One to Find All
by TheMaster4444
Summary: When his classmates are taken into another world, Izuku Midoriya makes a bargain to enter that world and bring them home. But he has an entire planet to search and only the knowledge that his friends would only ever want to be heroes to go on. Huntsmen seem to be like heroes, so maybe he'll find them at this Beacon Academy. Along with a red hooded girl just as heroic as him.
1. Chapter 1

**As voted on by my patrons, the newest monthly story 'One to Find All'!**

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**Beta-ed by xenosaiyan**

* * *

Like most great stories, it all started when a boy fell from the sky. At least, that's how most of Yang's stories started, usually because she'd punched the boy into the sky in the first place. Did that make the punching the start?

In that case, Ruby thought the start of the story was when she'd been reading the weapons magazines in the back of From Dust 'till Dawn. Then that guy in the suit and sunglasses had tapped her on the shoulder, said he was robbing her, and then she'd kicked him through the window because, duh, that was what you did with bad guys. Though she was pretty sure dad was going to take the cost of fixing the window out of her cookie allowance.

Then it turned out that there was actually a whole bunch of guys in suits and sunglasses at the front of the store pointing guns at the nice old shopkeeper! Oh, and some redheaded guy with weird eyeshadow, a hooked cane, and a cool hat… wait, wasn't there a guy like that in dad's monthly bounty notices that he told her not to look through? Greek Lampstick? Persian Candle? Roman… yes! Roman Torchwick!

Oh gods, she was stopping Roman Torchwick from robbing someone.

Best day ever! Yang was going to be so jealous!

"Okay…" Torchwick muttered. He looked at his minions, who were all gaping at the awesomeness that was Crescent Rose. "Well? Get her!"

The suit and sunglasses goons quickly obeyed their boss and rushed her, each one carrying a huge red sword.

Ruby's eyes narrowed at their approach, but on the inside she was ecstatic. Her first goon fight! Yang never let her join in whenever she had them at clubs, but now it was finally her turn to take down a bunch of bad guys single-handed!

No, focus Ruby! This was serious. Uncle Qrow always said to never take any opponent lightly, whether they were human or Grimm. For all she knew, one of these guys could have some super powerful semblance, like that teleporting short person all the bounty notices had said Torchwick always had around him. For all she knew, she could be in for the fight of her life!

She activated her semblance and sped around the goons, clouds of rose petals flying in her wake. Her scythe lashed out at their knees, their throats, their faces, all the places Uncle Qrow had taught her to aim when she was fighting for her life.

Five seconds later, all the suit and sunglasses-wearing men were laid out of the ground.

Huh. That was it? Lame.

Apparently, Torchwick agreed, sighing at the laid-out forms of his men. "You were worth every cent, truly you were."

The criminal dropped his cigar to the ground and squashed it with his cane. "Well, Red, I think we can both agree it's been an eventful evening—"

That was when everything changed. A flash of blinding white light exploded just above and in front of Ruby, both her and Torchwick forced to cover their eyes from the sudden flare. When the light faded, something, or rather someone, had suddenly appeared in midair.

A boy with a shaggy head of green hair, wearing a jumpsuit of the same color. There was some sort of breath mask on his collar while bracers supported both his arms and legs. His feet were covered by crimson steel-toed boots, the same kind an experienced huntsman would wear if they specialized in fighting with their lower body, like a Yang that used their legs.

The guy numbly blinked a few times before his eyes widened at the lack of ground below him. "Ah!"

His limbs flailed and some kind of emerald lightning began to spark off his body, but he still proceeded to plummet to the ground, his foot kicking Ruby in the face as he landed face first onto the street.

"Ow."

Ruby couldn't tell which of them said it first, that kick had smarted even through her aura, but her scythe was already back in ready position while the guy was still pretending to moan on the ground. Nobody who had a semblance that could make them appear out of thin air could possibly be so discombobulated by its use. Especially not someone with this person's reputation.

Oh yes, the huntress knew who this was. Roman Torchwick's bloodthirsty lackey, the ghost of the Vale Underworld, the infamous teleporting short person of the bounty notice who the police had never been able to get more than a name for.

Laying before Ruby was the infamous Neopolitan!

She had to be careful. The boy in front of her was so dangerous that the police had never even gotten a good look at him. If she let him get on his feet, she didn't know if she could take him and based on all the people he'd killed, the poor shopkeeper could be his next victim. She needed to use Uncle Qrow's ultra-secret strategy!

Slash it till it dies!

"Hiya!" Ruby yelled, Crescent Rose coming down in at the criminal's chest.

The green-haired boy wobbled around to her, his eyes widening at her descending scythe. The green lightning surrounded him once again as he dove to the side to avoid the swing, scrabbling to his feet to avoid Ruby's follow-ups.

"Wait! Wait!" he shouted. "Stop!"

"Silence, villain!" Ruby proclaimed, keeping up her assault. Neopolitan was trying to distract her by _talking_, but it wouldn't work. She knew that the crafty criminal was trying to get her guard down, but Ruby knew better than to give him that opening. "You can't trick me!"

"Villain?!" the boy screeched, his hands frantically waving in front of him as he desperately dodged Ruby's swift strikes. "No, no, no, no, no, no, no! I'm not a villain!"

"Exactly what a villain would say! You can't fool me, Neopolitan!"

"Who?!"

"Neo? You think he's—_psh_," Torchwick said from the side. The crimelord suddenly burst out laughing, having to lean over his cane just to stay upright. "Hahahahaha! Oh, Red, that just made this night so worth it. She is gonna get a kick out of this."

"She?" Ruby squeaked, pausing her weapon mid-strike. She looked again at the green-haired boy, her mind no longer filled with Uncle Qrow infused paranoia. His hand was held out defensively before his body while his face was lit with panic, definitely not the typical behavior from a villain, even one trying to fake innocence. "You're… not Neopolitan?"

The boy chuckled awkwardly, giving her a little wave. "Izuku Midoriya. Nice to meet you."

Ruby's cheeks suddenly burned red with shame. What had she done? She'd attacked an innocent civilian. Sure, he'd appeared out of nowhere but that was no excuse to stick a scythe in his face. Urgh! How was she ever going to become a huntress—

"Look out!" Izuku Midoraya shouted. Once more green lightning wreathed his body, the boy leaping forward and tackling Ruby to the other side of the street. Where they'd been standing a moment before, a fire dust bullet from Torchwick's cane exploded and tore the road to shreds.

"Woah, thanks," Ruby said. She could have easily dodged that shot if she'd seen it coming, but blindsided as she'd been, it would have blown her to bits if this guy hadn't intervened. "I'm really sorry about trying to slash you and all."

"N-n- No problem," Izuku muttered, his hands on top of Ruby's upper arms near her chest. His cheeks were also really red for some reason. "I'm touching a girl..."

Ruby cocked an eyebrow. Why was this guy freaking out? She could understand being angry at her, he certainly had every right to be, but he was acting like _he _had something to be embarrassed about. He had just saved her life for gods' sake! If he hadn't been there, Torchwick would have—

"Torchwick!" Ruby screamed, throwing the mumbling Izuku off her and leaping to her feet. She scanned the surrounding area, spotting the thief climbing a nearby fire escape with a case of dust in his arms. "He's getting away!"

"Getting away?" Izuku glanced between the broken shop window and the shopkeeper who had made his way to the door. His eyes narrowed, locking onto the fleeing criminal. "Is he a villain?"

"Totally," Ruby nodded. In hindsight, with the way he was moving when she attacked him and that lightning that was coming off him, he was obviously a huntsman in training like her. She looked to the shopkeeper. "Are you okay if we go after him?"

The old man nodded.

Ruby turned back to the rooftop, but then immediately glanced to Izuku. "Are you okay with coming with me?"

Izuku's brow furrowed. For just a moment, it looked like he might decline, stay back. Technically, neither of them were licensed huntsmen. They weren't supposed to chase the bad guys after they'd driven them off. Honestly, they probably should have stayed back until the police and actual huntsmen showed up.

But Torchwick would have gotten away by then! And then he'd go on to hurt other people just like he'd hurt the shopkeeper. They had a chance to stop him and they had to try. If Ruby had to do it alone, then she would.

Fortunately, Izuku's gaze hardened a moment later, his hands curling into fists. "Interfering when you don't need to is the essence of being a hero. Let's go. **One for All: Full Cowling!**"

Green electricity erupted from his body and the boy leapt into the air. Ruby grinned and followed behind, quickly overtaking her new ally with her semblance. She wasn't sure what his own semblance let him do beyond that cool lightning, but it certainly wasn't speed. He wasn't going any faster than any other person she'd seen with aura. Maybe it was whatever had caused him to appear out of nowhere?

Well, whatever it was, they were going to take Torchwick down. There was no way he was getting away from the combined team of Ruby Rose and Izuku Midoriya!

* * *

_**RWBYRWBYRWBYRWBYMHAMHAMHAMHA**_

Ozpin calmly took a sip from his coffee mug, the door to Ms. Rose's interrogation room closing softly behind him. Taiyang would be there soon to pick up his daughter, and he dared say the young girl would not mind waiting in the dark room a bit longer with how ecstatic she was at his offer.

Glynda, whose scowl he could feel even without turning to face her, was far less so. "This is not a good idea."

"You're not blaming our young friend for Torchwick's escape now, are you?"

"Of course not. That scoundrel has evaded entire teams of huntsmen before," his deputy said. "Frankly those two children are lucky to be alive. Can you imagine what could have happened to them if that little friend of his had been with him tonight?"

Ozpin frowned. If Neopolitan had accompanied her partner on his most recent escapade, he had no doubt he'd have had to make a very different call to Taiyang. One informing him his youngest daughter was in the hospital or worse, the morgue.

"A fair point," he conceded, the two huntsmen walking side by side down the hall of the police station. "But a point in favor of my offer. With Ms. Rose in Beacon, we can not only hone her skills, but also ensure she does not take on any endeavors she is not yet ready for."

"Really?" Glynda inquired, an eyebrow raised. "And this has nothing to do with Amber's condition?"

"Please, Glynda. I may hope that Ms. Rose joins our cause one day, but I'm not about to throw a fifteen-year-old up against an assassin capable of defeating a maiden, silver eyes or not," Ozpin countered. "You and I shall handle Amber's protection."

"Of course. But bringing her to Beacon two years early does bring that potential 'day' ever closer."

Ozpin shrugged. "The Queen has devised a method to split a maiden's power. She is getting more and more devious in her methods. Who knows what strategies she has in motion even as we speak?"

"I understand," Glynda sighed. "I didn't mean to question you."

"You did, and that's good," Ozpin smirked. "I've made many mistakes, Glynda. I am grateful that you are here to keep me from making a few more."

His second returned his smile. "I do try."

The pair stopped in front of another interrogation room, the one-way mirror window in the doorway revealing the green-haired boy nervously fidgeting at the table within.

"Now then," Ozpin said. "What is it you find so interesting about this boy? I know he assisted Ms. Rose, and that is certainly commendable, but I'm afraid I had to skim most of the report. Why should we not just have the police contact his parents and send him on his way?"

"Because he has none."

Ozpin frowned. "I see."

It was a sad, but unrelenting fact of their world. The Grimm were an ever-present threat, and anywhere outside the major settlements shielded by natural boundaries, a near implacable one. Children orphaned by The Queen's scourge were hardly uncommon, with the path of the huntsmen appealing to many either out of revenge or a desire to ensure no one else had to go through their pain. He'd consoled many of both through Beacon.

"Well, he must have some guardian. That equipment suggests he has some support, we just need to—"

"No, sir, you don't understand," Glynda interjected. "He has no guardian on record, but that's because he is not in the record."

Ozpin quirked an eyebrow. "What do you mean?"

"He says his name is Izuku Midoriya. But not only does that not fit traditional color theme, but there is also no record of it in any database on the CCT. I ran his picture and got the same results," Glynda explained. "Not only that, but on the rooftop, he displayed physical abilities on par with Ms. Rose, including some sort of green energy that flowed over him."

Ozpin tilted his head. "I can see how the first part could be concerning, but not the second. Nothing you just described is out of the realm of possibility for someone with aura."

"That's what I thought initially as well. Except these are his current readings." Glynda raised her tablet, the device displaying a typical chart used for tracking a person's aura level in combat. A chart that was completely blank.

Ozpin's eyes widened. If the boy's aura wasn't even unlocked, then displaying the abilities Glynda had seen from him should have been impossible. Unless, he was somehow alternatively enhanced. Mystically, perhaps. By a certain dark benefactor.

"Has he said anything else since he arrived?" he inquired. "Anything that might give us a clue?"

"Not much," Glynda informed him. "Beyond his name, he just said that he was looking for his friends. And that he was supposed to find someone to help him. Someone named Ozma. Does that name ring any bells to you?"

Ozpin's heart skipped a beat, his hand clenching tight around both his cane and mug. It was only his eternity of experience at faking his composure that kept him from gasping out loud.

This boy, he knew his name. His _first _name, from all those eons ago. There were only two people left on Remnant who knew of it, and he certainly hadn't told him. But… that name also brought up memories best left forgotten for the Queen, memories of a better time, of happiness and children loved and lost. She had no more desire to revisit that agonizing period than he did. She would not have told this Izuku Midoriya. What was there to gain from it anyway? Nothing that could be worth the pain, surely.

No, this boy was likely not a servant of The Queen. He could not dismiss the possibility, but he felt there was something else at work, something powerful. And he couldn't protect his world if he didn't know what that something was.

Fortunately, it seemed his only source of answers wanted to speak with him just as badly.

"Glynda, shut down the cameras inside here," Ozpin ordered. "Ensure no one enters this room, before I leave. Whatever Izuku Midoriya and I speak of, we must have complete control of who knows it."

Glynda blinked in shock for a moment, before nodding. James might have argued, Qrow would have snarked, and Leonardo would have politely inquired what had caused his pique of interest, but not Glynda. She might question him when she thought he was wrong, but she also understood when he needed her complete faith and graciously granted it to him every time. He was ever so fortunate to have her by his side in this life, protecting the world.

But in the name of that endeavor, Izuku Midoriya was someone he had to face alone. For if any hint of his past got out, if Salem's complete immortality became known to his circle, they would lose whatever false hope he had managed to instill in them. And then the Queen would run roughshod over the unprotected masses.

Whatever this boy was part of, whether he really was just looking for his friends or if some other larger game was being played, Ozpin had to know.

* * *

_**RWBYRWBYRWBYRWBYMHAMHAMHAMHA**_

Izuku really wished he could stop his foot from tapping. It made him look nervous. But his legs had been fidgety ever since he'd started developing his Shoot Style and he was pretty sure his trademark mumbling would make him look even worse. As it was, it was taking all his concentration to keep from breaking out into observations, like how that girl with the red hood could be strong enough to wield her scythe so effortlessly because even if she was in superb shape the sheer size of the weapon would have made it too unwieldy for anyone to use, unless they had some kind of strength-enhancing quirk but there supposedly weren't any quirks on this world—

Okay, he really needed to stop, or he wouldn't be able to help mumbling.

And he supposed it wouldn't be too bad if he looked nervous, since he was probably more terrified than he'd ever been since he'd first asked All Might if he could become a hero. Being inside a police station was far more frightening when you were in an interrogation room instead of getting your statement taken in the main bullpen, especially when said police station was in another world and he was fairly certain the officers would get suspicious when he didn't have any records, or parents, or anyone he knew. He'd told them about Ozma, but it wasn't like he knew anything about him, or even if he'd be around to help. The God of Light had said they'd try to get him close, but given that they'd teleported him into a crime in progress, he wasn't sure how much stock he placed in the deities' abilities.

But he didn't have any other choice. Somewhere in this world, his friends were trapped, adrift without their memories. Kacchan, Uraraka, Todoroki, Kirishima, Yaoyorozu, Jiro, he wouldn't let them down.

The door to the room opened with a creak and pulled him out of his thoughts, his foot slamming into the floor as he used all his willpower to appear as sane as possible to the person coming in.

Said person was a tall, thin man with white hair in a dark green suit. He carried a cane in one hand and a mug of some steaming beverage in the other. His bespectacled eyes looked over Izuku with a kind, grandfatherly smile as if trying to put him at ease, but his mouth was tugged a little too tight for the young hero to think it was genuine. The man before him, whoever he was, was nervous. He must have seen the tapping foot.

"Izuku Midoriya, correct?" the man said.

"Um, yes, sir," the young hero replied nervously. "I… um… don't suppose you're Ozma, are you?"

The man's eyes narrowed. "Do you know who I am?"

"Uh, well… um…"

Izuku's mind whirled. Was he supposed to know the man? Was he some kind of prominent figure on this world? Would it be suspicious if he didn't know him? Was Ozma in some kind of protective custody and this person was his protector? Was he going to lock Izuku up for looking for him? Or would he only do that if Izuku did know who he was? Should he pretend to know him so as to not attract attention?

No. Izuku wasn't great at lying in the first place, but if he pretended to know, he'd just look even more suspicious when he was inevitably asked something he should have known but didn't. It wasn't without its problems, but honesty was still his best policy for the moment.

"I don't, sir," he sighed at last. "I'm new to this city. I only just arrived… recently."

The man cocked an eyebrow suspiciously. "I see. New to the city yet seeking Ozma."

Izuku's eyes widened. "You do know him!" he gasped. "Please, can you put me in contact with him? There is something I really need to speak with him about."

"Oh? About what I wonder," the man inquired carefully. "I can't see how your altercation with Mr. Torchwick tonight would necessitate his involvement."

Izuku cringed. It was only after the villain in the bowler hat, this Torchwick, had escaped in his aircraft and the scary woman who'd created those glowing glyphs had brought him and the red hooded girl to the police station that he'd thought to wonder if his attempts at heroism would be well received in this world. After all, even in Japan, if he'd done as he had without his provisional hero license, he would have been in trouble for public quirk usage and vigilantism, just like he, Iida, and Todoroki nearly were after their fight with Stain. Of course, the red-hooded girl had seemed to think it was a good idea, and she knew more about her own world than he did—wait!

"The girl who was brought in with me, the one with the red hood," Izuku said, shooting to his feet. "What's going to happen to her?"

"Ms. Rose?" For the first time since he'd entered the room, the suited man seemed surprised, his calm façade breaking outright as his eyes widened just a fraction. "She's quite alright. While her actions were far more eager than the police would generally prefer, they are hardly going to press charges for being a good Samaritan. Her family will be picking her up shortly."

Izuku sagged back in his seat, a small smile playing across his face. "That's a relief."

"Indeed," the man said, slightly less caged than before. "if I'm being completely honest, it is a state of affairs I sorely wish to replicate with you, Mr. Midoriya. However, you don't seem to have any guardian in our system. I don't suppose you could supply us with someone we can entrust you to? Your equipment does seem to indicate you have some support."

The aspiring hero cringed. Of course, he wouldn't be in the police's database. He wasn't from the same planet. And he could hardly give his mom's name since she wouldn't be in there either. He only had one contact, and he'd never even met the man. But it was the only card he had to play.

"Ozma," Izuku said, already hearing that his voice wasn't nearly sure enough to be convincing.

The man's eyes regained a bit of their edge. He set his mug down on the table between them and set both hands on the pommel of his cane. Izuku wasn't sure why, but he felt like the man had just grasped a sword instead of a walking stick.

"My name is Ozpin, Mr. Midoriya," he spoke softly, yet with the weight of stone. "And whether you know the significance of that name or not, we both know that you are not Ozma's ward."

Izuku instantly deflated even further. Whatever connection this Ozpin had to Ozma, he could hardly bluff any real connection to the man. Maybe if the green suited man was the wizard's associate, he might believe Izuku if he told him the truth? But if he didn't, if he thought the aspiring hero was insane or an elaborate liar, it could impede Izuku's quest to find his friends. Or worse, if he was in league with the witch, he might just attack him right here and use whatever influence he held in the city to get Izuku branded a criminal. He could hardly track down the others, much less help them remember, if they thought he was a dangerous villain. No matter what world or life they lived, none of them would ever trust him if they thought he was a criminal. And to save them, he needed them to trust him.

"There's something I really need to speak with Ozma about," Izuku pleaded. "And _just _him. Please, I'm begging you."

Ozpin took a deep breath. "Mr. Midoriya, you assisted the daughter of a good friend of mine tonight and showed concern for her even when your own situation is quite up in the air. That leaves me inclined to trust you. However, my decisions dictate the fate of people all across Remnant. I cannot put my faith in you on a mere inclination. If you are a friend to Ozma as you say, then I need you to tell me how you learned of him and why you are seeking him. Otherwise, I'm afraid there is nothing I can do to help."

Izuku gulped. "You wouldn't believe me. It… it sounds crazy. I still can't entirely believe it. Please, I need to talk to Ozma."

The green suited man's face softened, his brown eyes letting down some of their stalwart glare. "Ozma has shared more than a few tall tales with me. If your story contains similar… outlandish elements, I promise I will not judge you for them."

Yeah right. Ozpin may have been being truthful, he just wouldn't be able to comprehend what Izuku would tell him. Kacchan hadn't believed him the first time he'd said he'd gotten his quirk from someone else. Alternate universes, mystical soul reincarnation, gods of light and darkness, how could anyone, however well-meaning, believe a ridiculous story like that?

But… he needed to get to Ozma. He was the only lead Izuku had to find his friends. It was a long shot, but he had to tell him the truth, take a leap of faith.

"Alright," he said. "Not long ago, me and my classmates were studying late at night in our dorms…"

* * *

_**RWBYRWBYRWBYRWBYMHAMHAMHAMHA**_

"_Hey, Kacchan," Izuku demurely asked, coming around the corner of the dorms. "Do you know where the snacks are? They aren't where I put them this morning for the study group… Kacchan?"_

_The lack of response from his childhood… friend... companion… associate, and newly agreed upon rival was hardly unprecedented. Katsuki may have had a colorful vocabulary on the best of days, but ever since their duel and subsequent house arrest, he'd been far moodier than usual, only shooting off into tirades when anyone other than Izuku talked to him. It was certainly a sign of the progression in their relationship that he'd replied calmly to Midoriya's inquiries about what he could improve on from their battle. Maybe he was just too focused on his work to hear his current question?_

_Of course, that seemed unlikely when he was laid out on the carpet, along with Uraraka, Yaoyorozu, Jiro, Kirishima, and Todoroki with the rest of the students of Class 1-A crowded around them, except Iida, who was strangely absent._

_Izuku's eyes widened. Bakugo was a lot of things, but a slacker was not one of them. He'd never lie down on the job, to say nothing less for the rest of his classmates._

"_Guys!" He called out, rushing over to kneel to the sides of his classmates. "What happened?!" _

"_I don't know!" Kaminari blabbered. "They just suddenly keeled over after I screamed about how I'm going to fail the math portion of tomorrow's test, and then there was this flicker and _oh my god_ did I do this?!"_

_Mina slapped Kaminari upside the head. "Shut up idiot. None of this is your fault. But, he's right Midoriya." Mina looked uncharacteristically confused, along with a healthy dose of frustration. "I can't explain it. It's like the world just, flickered, like an old TV changing channels. Before it happened they were upright and normal, and then after they all suddenly started falling down. They're still breathing but…"_

_Mina turned Bakugo onto his back, allowing Izuku the chance to glance over him from top to bottom. The explosive hero-in-training's fiery crimson eyes were completely glassed over, staring blankly at the ceiling above. His face normally so sharp and full of determination for even the most mundane tasks, was sagged and empty, arms falling limp at his sides. He glanced over at Uraraka, only to find her in a similar lifeless condition, the same with all the others._

"_Iida ran to get Recovery Girl for healing and Aizawa-sensei in case this is a quirk affecting them." explained Sero. "In case of a villain attack, he's also carrying Hagakure since she can get off him and sneak attack any villain."_

_Deku's eyes were still on his prone classmates in stunned disbelief. Should he try shaking them? No, that only worked in movies! What could have happened? He'd been talking to Katsuki and Ochaco only a few minutes ago. Had some villain with an infiltration quirk snuck in and attacked them? But how had they gotten past the campus security and the rest of the students? The entire point of them moving into the dorms was to keep them safe from villains!_

_No, he could worry about what had caused this strange catatonia later. Green sparks surrounded his body in rage as he turned around. _

"_Midoriya! What are you do-"_

"_I'm going to search for the villain." He gritted out. With no response, he turned back around in confusion, only to be greeted with frozen expressions from all his fellows, their eyes locked blankly at where he was a second before. Kaminari was reaching out to him, his arm stock still mid-movement, something that the sporadic electricity user could never manage. "Guys?"_

"_Do not search for what does not exist, boy." A resonating_ _voice announced from behind him._

_Instinct flared as he jumped back and up onto a couch. T__he deep, dark voice passed over Izuku like a towering wave, engulfing him and dragging his body down to the depths of the ocean. Despite not recognizing the speaker at all (how did he even get in?), the young hero felt a terror wash over him the likes he hadn't felt since he encountered All for One._

_Slowly, shaking with dread, he turned around to face the new person, readying Full Cowl to activate at a moment's notice. Unfortunately, all his preparation evaporated when he laid his eyes on the speaker, his jaw dropping to the ground._

_First off, there was not one intruder, but two, __though they looked more like Tokoyami's Dark Shadow or Kurogiri of the League of Villains than anything he'd expected, beings of pure energy. The one on the left was a black hole come to life, a dark purple figure with a pair of curved ram's horns atop his head, light seeming to bend and die all around him. In contrast, the being to the right positively beamed with golden light, elegant antlers extending from the top of his scalp, his posture straight and serene. Both gazed upon Izuku, though that might have just been conjecture since they didn't have eyes so maybe they sensed via some other factor, maybe echolocation or telepathy—_

"_Cease your blabbering, boy," the black energy being snapped, his rumbling voice identifying him as the one who'd spoken before._

_Roused from the mumbling he'd apparently been saying out loud, Izuku dropped into a fighting stance, careful to keep himself between the two intruders and his defenseless classmates._

_The golden one raised a hand. "Peace, Izuku Midoriya. We mean you no harm."_

_The green-haired boy raised an eyebrow, his fists unconsciously opening back into open palms, his legs straightening out his ready position. For some reason, just as the black figure's timbre stoked a cold grip of dread in the young hero, the golden one's words calmed him, like a cool breeze in the midst of a blazing summer noon._

_Still, just because the person's voice made him feel better wasn't a reason to drop his guard. He was more than familiar with brainwashing quirks. If they were using one on him, he had to be careful not to let them influence him, though without knowing the activation requirements, there was little he could do._

"_Who are you?" Izuku looked over to the rest of his classmates, who hadn't moved an inch from when the two beings had appeared. "What did you do to them? Some kind of… conscious manipulation? Body manipulation, to force them to stop moving?"_

"_Body manipulation? Ha!" the black one snorted. "What kind of charlatans do you take us for, boy? I should rip out your throat just for that insult—"_

"_Brother," the golden one cut across pointedly. "What he said is fully believable for the extraordinary world the boy lives in. Also, need I remind you that we are guests? And not entirely welcome ones at that either."_

"_Right, right," the ram horned figure groaned. "Just get on with it. I don't want that demon getting on our case any more than he already is."_

_The golden figure sighed, turning to fully face Izuku. "To answer your question, we are not manipulating their bodies, your senses, or any other types of control. We have simply, with the permission and assistance of the god of your world, stopped time."_

…

…

…

"_WHAT?!" Izuku squealed, leaping back aghast, his finger flailing accusatorily between the two beings. "Bu—but that's impossible! There's no quirk powerful enough to stop time! I mean maybe there's one that hasn't been discovered yet, but quirks are physical abilities, they can't interact with a metaphysical concept like time! And what do you mean 'the god of my world'?! Isn't it your world as well? Unless you come from another world, but if you know the god of this world, when no one in this world has every confirmed he exists…"_

"_And the penny drops," the black being quipped._

"_You're gods,"__ Izuku whispered, instinctively knowing it to be the truth as soon as the words left his lips, no matter how insane they sounded__. "You're actually Gods. And from what you're saying, Gods from a different world."_

_The golden one nodded before cocking its head. "I am the God of Light. This is my brother, the God of Darkness. It is a pleasure to meet you, Izuku Midoriya."_

"_You're gods from another world."_

"_Oh, great __job_ _brother." the God of Darkness said sarcastically. "Truly a quick-witted child, not an adult, but _child_ you have found for the job. I swear, Ozma seems like a genuinely capable person in comparison to this wretch." _

_The God of Light let out a long, suffering sigh, as if he had heard the same insult repeatedly. "Izuku Midoriya, I believe we should bring this conversation back onto topic. Let me explain what happened to your classmates and friends."_

_This snapped Izuku out of his shock, at least slightly. "What happened to them?!"_

"_Physically, nothing," the God of Light explained. "But their souls have been extracted."_

"_Souls?" Izuku repeated. As terrifying as his friends' newfound peril was, he couldn't help but marvel at all the metaphysical concepts he was suddenly getting direct divine confirmation for._

_The God of Darkness let out a very ungodlike groan. "Yes, to make a long story short, on a world that we made, a deceitful little wench attempted to set us against each other. We discovered the attempt, and instead of doing the sensible thing and _**kill her**_, this fool decided we should make her immortal in some asinine attempt to play teacher."_

"_You act as if we should have just cast her aside without a second thought," the God of Light protested. "We made the humans; it is our responsibility to at least attempt to guide them."_

"_Well, I guided them straight to extinction. Which they recovered from… somehow," the dark being waved it off. "In any case, said immortal witch has spent the last few eons waging a shadow war to wipe out humanity. But since _**someone **_decided to try to help again and use a loophole to revive her husband, he's forced her into a stalemate, incompetent man that he is."_

"_That's rather impressive by itself, considering the position he was in brother. Ozma is an extremely capable man. The mere fact that humanity hasn't already gone extinct _again _is rather unbelievable even with his blessing."_

"_Yes, yes, as you've said before but never actually showed. Anyways, the witch had been looking into magic she shouldn't be to break the standoff, impatient welch she is, and used a spell she didn't understand to bring new pieces onto the board. Said spell crossed dimensions, potentially caused irreparable damage to the multiverse, and ripped your friends' souls out of their bodies to reincarnate them onto the Remnant of our world."_

_Izuku wasn't sure his eyes could get any wider, his mind swirling with the titanic concepts that were getting dropped on him, struggling to come up with a coherent response._

"_Okay…" he mumbled. "So, this witch… has reincarnated them into your world… but you're gods. Can't you just snap your fingers and fix it?"_

"_That would be nice, wouldn't it," the God of Darkness mocked him. "But unlike you mortals, we gods are not insignificant. Our whispers can sunder stars and our speech can rend reality. Which means we cannot lie or break our word as your kind does without significant cosmic consequence far worse than this trite little scenario."_

"_What does that have to do with—"_

"_We swore that we would not return to our world until summoned by the union of four Relics. At that point, our humanity shall either be united and at peace, or we would wipe every last one of them from the face of the planet."_

_Izuku gulped. "Oh."_

"_In hindsight, more lax conditions would have been a wiser choice," the God of Light noted. "However, only we have the authority over our world to take your friends out immediately, and we cannot do it with any precision outside the realm itself. As such, the only alternative is to manipulate the natural course."_

"_The natural course?"_

"_If your friends can remember their lives in this world, then when they die in our world, their souls will follow their natural course and return to their bodies here. With the time differentiation between the two worlds passing decades there while only minutes here, as long as they can be made to remember, this whole experience may only be a bad dream in the long run of their lives."_

_Izuku hummed in acknowledgment. That didn't sound too bad. After all, everyone died eventually, and if anything, it would just give them more experience to call upon when they returned to their original world and continued to train to become heroes. Of course, there was the other matter to consider…_

"_What happens if they don't remember?"_

"_They die," the God of Darkness bluntly stated. "Both here and there."_

…_Shit._

_He thought of Kacchan's parents, vibrant and caring, finding out their son who'd only just been saved from villains had suddenly dropped dead for no conceivable reason. He thought of Uraraka's family, kept away from their daughter for so long due to work, only to receive a call from the school that she'd passed on while they were away. He thought of the magnificent heroes they were all sure to become that would never see the light of day._

_He clenched his hands into fists and resolved that such a terrible thing would never happen._

"_What can I do?"_

_It might have been his imagination, neither of the deities had mouths after all, but he could have sworn he saw the God of Light smile at him._

"_Thanks to Salem's inexperience with the spell she used, we have a slight opportunity to sneak you into the world through the slipstream of the seven she's called herself. We can only send one person and we believe you have the best chance at awakening the memories of the others," the God of Light explained. "We will take your soul and deposit it within a copy of your body in our world. We will do our best to transport you nearby Ozma, the witch's enemy. Tell him we sent you, and he'll be able to help."_

"_Um, okay," Izuku nodded. "But how will I be able to track down my friends? If they're reincarnated, wouldn't they look different? Wouldn't they be different people who've lived different lives?"_

"_Most bodies' growth tend to be influenced by the souls within them," the golden being assured him. "As for the rest, whatever new experiences they go through, whether they can recall their memories or not, their original selves are still buried beneath. You will have to call those memories up, but underneath it all they are still the same people you know. You can find them."_

"_And if you don't, we can still tell the god of your world that we tried," the God of Darkness shrugged._

_The God of Light sent his brother a pointed glare before raising his shining hand, his palm facing Izuku. "The task before you is momentous, young hero. Are you sure you want to do this? No one would think less of you if you stood down."_

"_Not even me," the God of Darkness concurred. "I already think you're dirt."_

"_A question first though. Why? Why them?"_

_The God of Light sighed, even as the God of Darkness started laughing his ass off. "The spell the witch had used allows for certain vague requirements to be met in a person before their soul would be taken. The qualifications were apparently met in one of your friends, but rather than just take the one child, the witch's inexperience with the spell took random people near the boy in order to fully drain her of her magic. Once her magic was completely drained, the soul snatch shut itself off."_

_Considering how hard the dark one was laughing, Izuku dreaded asking the question that followed. It was necessary, however. "And these qualifications were?"_

"_They were, oh Me, the qualifications were 'want for vast amounts of destruction' and 'large amounts of power' so the witch would get a highly influenceable, and highly powerful servant. Apparently one of your _Hero_ buddies fulfilled both though. Guess who it is!"_

_Izuku cradled his face in his hands, instinctively knowing the answer. "...Damn it, Kacchan." This sent the God of Darkness into even more howls of laughter._

_Even the God of Light seemed embarrassed, though whether that was for him or due to his brother was up to debate. "...Izuku Midoriya, will you journey to another world, a world with pain and death on a scale you have never imagined, in order to save your classmates?"_

"_I'll do it," Izuku declared instantly, lifting his face up from his hands. _

_These were more than just his classmates. They were his friends. They'd fought for their lives beside one another, saved people beside each other. Even beyond his duty as a hero, he refused to leave them to die because of the whims of this witch._

_He would find them. And he would save them._

_The God of Light nodded, a blinding glow erupting from his palm. "Good luck, Izuku Midoriya.__ If you can awaken them all, then we can pull you all back immediately.__"_

_The God of Darkness was still laughing even as everything faded to black._

* * *

_**RWBYRWBYRWBYRWBYMHAMHAMHAMHA**_

As he finished his story, it suddenly occurred to Izuku that he'd once more rushed into a situation without thinking in order to save people. In hindsight, he really should have asked more questions of the Gods, such as what Ozma looked like or how he was actually supposed to make his friends remember who they were. Heck, he was lucky that they'd seen fit to outfit with his hero costume, complete with his bracers and boots, otherwise, he'd have nothing in this entire new world but a t-shirt and shorts.

Of course, there were some benefits. His hands felt far nimbler than they'd been in months, since before the Sports Festival. A cursory rubbing of the back of his skin against his gloves had revealed that the horrific scars he'd obtained from the tournament and after during his battle with Muscular had disappeared. He'd been startled for a few moments before he'd recalled that his current body wasn't 'his' body, just a copy the gods had created to house his soul in this world. His original form was back home, catatonic just like the others, scars and all. If he died in this world, he'd just go right back to it, since he had his memories. That was somewhat reassuring, though it was a bit disturbing that there were beings in existence capable of creating a copy of One for All and all the strength it had stored up for generations with apparently no effort.

Oh well. At least this time, he could use what experience he already had to make sure he didn't damage his body the same way he had his other one.

That was if he didn't get labeled as insane and thrown in a padded cell.

Ozpin's mouth had dropped wide open, staring blankly ahead as if the world had just crumbled before him.

Izuku tensed, ready to jump into action if he needed to. He didn't want to fight law enforcement, but he couldn't afford to be locked up. He had to find everyone.

"Seventeen years ago… I sensed a mystical disturbance from the Grimmlands," Ozpin muttered. "But I never imagined she would do something like this."

"Wait," Izuku said, his eyebrows shooting up. "You believe me?"

The silver-haired man took a deep drink from his mug and let out an exhausted sigh. He shot Izuku a reassuring smile. "It sounds like the kind of impossible task the gods would set out for someone. And you are hardly the first they have done so with."

Izuku raised an eyebrow, a theory slowly taking shape in his mind.

Ozpin extended his hand. "Nowadays, I am known as Professor Ozpin, huntsman and headmaster of Beacon Academy. But, a long… long time ago, I was born as Ozma."

"You're Ozma?" Izuku grinned. "That's amazing! Can you help me?"

"I shall do my best," Ozpin assured him. "Salem has brought your friends here to tip the scales of this world to her side. By helping you rescue them, I can prevent them from becoming her weapons."

"Thank you," Izuku replied. He understood that Ozpin's reasons were not wholly altruistic but given that he had apparently been fighting a shadow war for the fate of humanity for who knew how long, he couldn't really blame him for his pragmatism.

"Think nothing of it," the professor said. "Now then, I don't suppose you have any idea where your friends might be? We have an entire planet to cover after all."

Izuku furrowed his brow in thought. Searching the entire planet for six people would be a titanic undertaking. There was no guarantee that his friends, despite apparently being seventeen years old in their new lives, would be in any electronic systems Ozpin had access to as head of a school, or even any of his shadow conspiracy ones. People slipped through the cracks sometimes, it was a sad truth of the world, and that meant finding wherever they were might be impossible.

But maybe it wouldn't be as difficult to figure out where they would go. After all, the God of Light had said that even if they couldn't remember their original lives, they were still the same people underneath.

And no matter their new lives, no matter where they'd been born, or what they had gone through, there was only one thing any of his friends would want to be.

"Professor, is there any profession in this world that is similar to a superhero? Actually, do you have superheroes in this world? Do you have comic books in this world? Or manga? I mean, both industries rose to prominence in part due to needs and aftermath of World War Two, so unless something similar occurred to mimic those effects, an alternate stimulus would be required—"

"Stop," Ozpin cut in, holding up a hand. "I can't say I'm knowledgable on the evolution of the industry, but comic books and the concept of superheroes do indeed exist in this world. As for an occupation that resembles them…"

The headmaster flashed a smirk, a scheming twinkle in his eyes. "I believe I know just the thing."

* * *

**And here we begin 'One Find to All', the newest monthly story. Izuku will be attending Beacon to find his friends, but as he is exposed to the struggles of his new classmates and the immense threat of the Grimm, will he truly be able to just find his friends and get out as planned? Or will the hero who meddles where he doesn't need to end up becoming distracted helping everyone he can?**

**If you wish to see more of this story, vote for it to be updated next month in the poll on my profile.**

**An extra huge thank you to my patrons: ArcherMcMuffin, Gregg Tracton, Keith Traction, StabKingPro, Annaya Chan, Nora Okonus, and Paula mandel.**

**Thank you for Reading! I hope you enjoy what comes next!**

**Go Forth and Conquer!**


	2. Chapter 2

**Happy New Year everyone!**

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**Beta-ed by xenosaiyan**

* * *

"**One for All: Full Cowling! 15 %!**"

Ozpin smiled as emerald lightning crackled across Izuku's form, the young man crouching as he prepared to launch himself forward. The headmaster raised his cane into a fencing stance, ready to deal with what came next.

"Begin," he instructed.

Immediately, Izuku rocketed forward, faster than any non-licensed huntsman had any right to move. His right leg swept through the air towards the professor's head, his black cleat rushing to cave in his skull.

Ozpin dipped back, tapping into his semblance to step through time itself, easily avoiding the blow and ducking under the shockwave that tore forth afterward. He smacked his cane into Izuku's leg, not as an attack but to guide the limb away and prevent a follow-up strike.

"Your name sounds strange," he suddenly said, thrusting his cane towards Izuku's absorbed back. "Why doesn't it follow the color rule?"

His thrust stabbed into Izuku's back, but the young boy moved with the force of the blow and rolled forward to escape the immediate flurry of follow-up attacks. He curled back to his feet and whirled around to face the professor again.

"It does," he responded, his aura flashing along with his lightning, his breath just a tad shorter. "It's old Mistralian for 'green valley'."

"How interesting," Ozpin parroted, dodging the rapid series of less sweeping, but more clumsy kicks that came after. "Are you from Mistral? Why attend Beacon then?"

"My parents were from Mistral. But they moved to Vale before I was born," Midoriya countered, taking a swipe of the cane on his elbow and then lashing out with a punch. Having gotten used to the boy's kicks, Ozpin actually wasn't able to completely dodge it, forcing him to sacrifice quite a bit of aura to the glancing blow. "We moved from settlement to settlement, trying to keep ahead of the Grimm. Eventually, we weren't fast enough. I was the only survivor."

"I'm so sorry."

"It's alright. It was a long time ago."

Again, Ozpin smiled. It had only been a week since he had met the aspiring hero from another world and already the green-haired boy had proven himself to be an exceptionally fast learner. While the gods had done them the favor of hardwiring Izuku's new brain to read and write the common language of the humanity, they had not seen fit to grant him any general knowledge of Remnant such as recent kingdom history or common cultural customs, things that any person off the street would know. And find strange in the absence of another. It would raise quite a few eyebrows if someone said they were from Vacuo and Midoriya didn't know they lived in a desert.

Thus, one part of their intensive crash course was going over both Bartholomew's sparser history study guides and Peter's collection of autobiographical novellas to give the young hero some basic understanding of the new world he'd found himself in. And, if the boy's muttering was to be believed, he was absorbing it quite well.

A bit more complicated task was the adaptation of his fighting style to aura, which Ozpin had unlocked at the first available opportunity. For sure there were astounding benefits to combining the energy of the soul with Izuku's 'quirk' One for All. From what the young man had told him, he had only just become able to safely use eight percent of his power's strength back in his home world, but with aura's boost to his body's endurance that portion nearly doubled, to say nothing of what he might be able to do if he pushed himself. Given the tremendous ability he'd shown already, the headmaster shuddered to think what the boy would be able to do with a hundred percent of his power.

That said, such a phenomenon would not be happening any time in the near future. While Izuku could push himself farther as long as his aura was active, that still required conscious effort to keep it active. Prospective huntsmen trained for years in combat schools until maintaining the energy field around them was second nature, but Midoriya had not. He had to meticulously maintain his aura while at the same time measuring the precise output of his Full Cowl to make sure he did not overload his limbs if the energy of the soul were to falter. Each of those tasks was a trial in and of themselves, but to handle both at once? In the middle of life or death combat? Given the boy's constant distracted mutterings, one might think he wouldn't have the mental fortitude for the feat.

But even with only a week of training under his belt, it was clear Izuku Midoriya could do it. Every spar, Ozpin quizzed him on Remnant and his public place in it, testing his concentration as far as they could, catching him off-guard as one of his two controls floundered. And every spar, the young boy improved, holding both his quirk and his aura for longer and longer bursts. If he only intended to use one of the two, there was no doubt in the headmaster's mind that the boy could handle it with ease for as long as he needed to. And when he finally did master controlling both his powers simultaneously, there was no doubt in Ozpin's mind that he would be one of the finest warriors on Remnant.

And if he could master all of One for All, perhaps he might be able to put an end to Salem once and for—

No! No, he couldn't think like that. Not only did he know for a fact that the Queen could not be destroyed by conventional means such as pure strength, but he had no right to use Izuku as a weapon in their war. He was a child, as were his friends, who'd been unjustly ripped out of their world. He may not have known what exactly Salem hoped to achieve through such an extravagant action, but it was his responsibility to get these children home as soon as possible, not try to exploit them as she did.

Besides, if she wanted at least some of them here, getting them home was the surest way to thwart her plans.

"That's enough for now, Izuku," Ozpin called out, lowering his cane. "The rest of the prospective students will be arriving soon and we'll both have to look presentable."

The sweat covered boy panted as the emerald lightning evaporated from his body. "I'm still not getting it. I need to get better at maintaining them both at once."

"When you first used your quirk and your aura at the same time, you overshot your speed and ran into a wall," Ozpin reminded him. He strode over to the green-haired young man and placed a comforting hand on his shoulder. "Now, you can use that strength just fine. You've made more progress in a week with aura than many make in years. Those I reincarnate into have my instincts to help them and it still takes them a month on average. You mustn't judge yourself so harshly, Mr. Midoriya."

"Maybe not, but if I don't pass initiation, it won't matter how many of the others show up here," Izuku pointed out. "I can't just hang around the school if I'm not a student. That'd be suspicious."

Ozpin smiled. "From what Glynda told me of your arrival and what I've seen since, you are more than capable of passing initiation as you are."

"Are you sure? What if I encounter a Geist? Or a Wyvern? Or a Leviathan!?" Izuku asked frantically. "I mean, at 100% I think I could handle any of those, but then my limbs would break, and just because this body doesn't have the scarring my old one did doesn't mean I should go back to breaking everything—"

"I doubt that will be necessary," Ozpin interrupted, giving the young man a soft squeeze on the shoulder to cut off his ramblings. Perhaps giving him _Bane of Humanity: Grimm Species Across Remnant_ hadn't been the best idea. "Dr. Oobleck and Professor Port checked the Emerald Forest last night. There are no Geists and certainly no Wyverns or Leviathans in there. At worst, you may come across an abnormally large Nevermore."

"Oh," Izuku remarked, instantly deflating with a sigh. "That's… good, I suppose."

Ozpin did not envy the young man's anxiety. He would have let Izuku into Beacon without the initiation, but when he was making the likes of Pyrrha Nikos and Weiss Schnee go through it, skipping over the exam for him would only draw attention to the boy who had apparently came from nowhere. And though the press' thoughts on the abnormality would mean little to either of them, darker eyes would also be drawn to the event.

Just as he watched the shadows and frontiers for any hint of her advances, Salem kept a keen and scrutinizing eye on everything he and his allies did. It was why he and Izuku had decided to enroll him in Beacon as a supposedly normal student instead of simply checking the roster for any of his friends and then sending him to the other academies to do the same. If the Queen of the Grimm saw him suddenly sending a young man from one academy to the next, she would pounce on him, claiming his friends as well if they were found. And the recent attack on Amber proved nothing if not that even their most secret routes were not safe from their enemy's reach.

So, they would act with subtlety and patience. Izuku had looked over the files on Beacon's current student body and confirmed that his friends were not among them, nor the roster lists they'd requested from the other academies. Now, he would only need to join the incoming batch of prospective students and search through them for any of the reincarnates, doing the same for the other academies' new classes when they arrived for the Vytel Festival later that year.

And if they were not among them? If Izuku's hunch that his friends would never want to be anything but heroes was wrong?

Well… they'd cross that bridge when they came to it.

"Keep heart, Mr. Midoriya," Ozpin encouraged him, feigning a smile he didn't feel. "The task before you is indeed momentous, but not impossible. Your friends are here on Remnant somewhere. If not as huntsmen, then in some other occupation."

"But what if I don't get to them fast enough?" Izuku said. "What if Salem finds them first? What if she tricks them into becoming villains? What if she's already found them?"

"If she had, I suspect there would be a great deal more chaos going on in the world," Ozpin replied. "But the Queen will not be the one to find them all first, you will. Have faith, Izuku. You have not failed. You've only just begun."

The boy looked up, his face scrunched in worry, his fears obviously not wholly soothed. But, after a few moments, he managed to flash the headmaster a reassuring smile.

Ozpin recognized it. He had shown many that very same grin countless times over the millennia, seeking to reassure them that the danger setting upon them was well in hand, that there was nothing to fear. Alas, he also knew that too often that such a face beguiled a mind frantically flailing for a solution they did not know existed.

"I better get going then," Izuku declared, marching towards the arena's exit. "The relics will be at the ancient ruins, right?"

"Ah, yes," Ozpin confirmed. While he could not allow Mr. Midoriya in without the initiation, that did not mean he could not give the young hero other advantages. Foreknowledge of the test's parameters and a map of the Emerald Forest for instance. Really, with his skills and abilities, the only challenge might be the initial drop—

Oh, that might be important.

"Mr. Midoriya," the headmaster called, the boy turning back to face him. "Just to make sure, you do have a landing strategy, correct?"

Another difference in the educational requirements of their worlds. Another basic that any potential Beacon student was supposed to have learned at combat school was the landing strategy. A huntsman would not always be able to choose how they entered a combat zone, and it was crucial that they were prepared for an aerial drop-off. Ozpin took perhaps more joy than he should have in throwing the prospectives off the cliff, but he would not have dared risk so many lives if he did not think they could handle it.

When he had mentioned that part of the trial, Mr. Midoriya had paled, confessing that his school's curriculum had not covered such a subject. Ozpin had offered to get him a parachute, but Izuku had asked to be given the time to make one so they wouldn't have to risk blowing their ruse.

Fortunately, the young man gave him a thumbs up. "Don't worry, professor. I've got it covered."

He went back on his way to the showers, and Ozpin hoped dearly that he was right. His war with Salem had been a grueling crusade, one that ultimately, he had to fight alone. Every time he'd previously revealed the full scope of what humanity was facing to anyone, the best-case scenario was them abandoning the battle as Raven had done when she'd learned the truth. At worst, his former allies saw their defeat as inevitable and flocked to the Queen's banner out of self-preservation.

In some ways, that made Izuku a breath of fresh air for the ancient wizard. The boy may not have known the precise details of Ozma and Salem's past, but he was fully aware of the scope of the latter's power and the titanic mission that had been set at the former's feet. And yet, while he was certainly burdened and terrified by the weight of that conflict, as well as his own herculean task, he pressed on, as Ozpin had done for longer than he could remember.

And just like he had wondered about himself more than once, he could not help but worry that Izuku did not have it nearly as 'covered' as he was trying to portray.

* * *

_**RWBYRWBYRWBYRWBYMHAMHAMHAMHA**_

Izuku did not have anything as covered as he was trying to portray. Well, not exactly. He _had _figured out a landing strategy.

But the rest of it was completely outside his control! Now that he'd had a week on Remnant, it had truly sunken in what kind of crazy death world he'd walked into. There were only four major countries on the planet and most of them only had one or two major metropolises, and a smattering of outlying settlements that disappeared so often most weren't even on the maps. The entire planet was overrun by an endless horde of demonic monsters that didn't eat or sleep, and most of the population didn't even know about the immortal witch behind it all.

He didn't think tracking down his friends down among an entire planet would be anything approaching easy, but from where he stood it was practically impossible! If they'd been reincarnated into the wrong place on Remnant, they could have already been killed by Grimm before they were old enough for whose soul was in their body to matter, let alone make their way to a huntsmen academy or even be found by Salem! And here he was, sitting still just _hoping _that the Gods' words that they were still the same people underneath meant they would try to be the closest thing in this messed up world to a professional hero! He should be going out into the world, trekking across Remnant until… until…

… until he was eventually overwhelmed and killed by Grimm.

He took a deep, calming breath, throngs of prospective Beacon students passing him by. He was supposed to be checking them out, seeing if any of them looked like his friends, but… but he needed a moment. All week he'd thrown himself into learning about Remnant, creating his cover identity, getting used to his aura and the advantages it gave to his quirk. He had pushed all the trepidation he'd felt upon arrival to the back of his mind with the small glimmer of hope teaming up with Ozpin had granted him, but now that the moment of action had come it was all flooding back.

But he had to push through, just like All Might would. If his friends were already dead… well, then there was nothing he could do for them now. But he had to believe that they'd beaten the odds, that they'd survived whatever struggles they'd faced on Remnant and arrived at a huntsmen academy. Then he would find them, no matter what. It wasn't like his classmates were any good at keeping a low profile—

"Excuse me, can you please stop muttering? I'm trying to read."

"Oh, sorry," Izuku sheepishly replied. "Sometimes I just can't keep my thoughts in my head, I suppose."

After Ozpin's speech, the prospective students had been led to the ballroom to spend the night, everyone's sleeping bags spread out through the massive room. Izuku wouldn't be able to walk around without stepping on people's toes, so he'd situated himself at the corner of the room best suited to observe everyone else in order to search for his friends.

Strangely enough, he had not been the first to claim the area.

As such, he now found himself the target of the amber glare of the girl who'd beaten him to it. She was dressed in an elegant kimono, her black hair falling behind her like the depths of the sea where no sunlight could reach, a dark bow atop her head completing the inky ensemble. Like him, she was sat against the wall, though unlike him, she had an open book in her hands.

Wait. A book, long black hair, natural elegance, and an apparently stony demeanor. That sounded like Yaoyorozu! Granted, she was hardly a dead ringer, but the gods had said their souls would make them resemble themselves, they didn't say they would look exactly the same. Maybe he'd made his first success without even realizing it.

"So, I guess I never introduced myself," he said, extending a friendly hand. "My name is Izuku Midoriya."

The dark-haired turned back to her book. "Blake."

"Blake. That's a nice name," Izuku replied, inwardly wishing it was Momo. It would make it so much easier to figure out if he was right if their names were the same. "So, um, what are you reading?"

"My book."

"Oh, that's nice. What's it about?"

Blake sighed. "It's about a man with two souls, each fighting for control of his body."

"Really? That sounds great!"

"It is. And I would like to get back to reading it."

"Right, sorry. It's just it's been a while since I've had the time to read for fun. The last book I read was…" Izuku stopped cold. The last thing he'd read for fun had been his one hundred and forty-seventh read through of _All Might: The Symbol We Don't Deserve but Need_. But he couldn't talk about that because All Might didn't exist on Remnant! Which now that he thought about it was incredibly depressing.

Blake sighed, placing a bookmark in her place. "Look, Izuku, it has been a long day and tomorrow is probably going to be even longer. I would greatly appreciate it if you would just go back to spying on everyone else like you were doing and let me enjoy one of the few small times of piece I will have in between now and initiation."

Izuku cringed. He'd seen Momo get annoyed Mineta and Kaminari's antics enough to know that such calm fury wasn't her style. While she was more than capable of being calm under pressure, when only mildly irritated, she tended to outright blowup at the source.

But that was the Momo he knew. If Blake was her reincarnation, there was no telling what she could have gone through, what experiences had shaped her. She might have seen her parents slaughtered by Grimm or become a villain to survive and was now trying to find redemption… Alright, that might have been unlikely, but the fact was he didn't know. And if this wasn't Momo, then he was just aggravating a random girl who just wanted to relax before taking one of the most important tests of her life.

"I'm sorry. I didn't mean to… wait, spying?" Izuku said. "I wasn't spying on everyone."

Blake rolled her eyes. "You were muttering about how no one here fit the physical descriptions in your head. Plus, the fact that you picked this spot to sleep, which has the best position to overlook the most possible angles of the ballroom."

"Well, when you put it like that, I guess it does sound a lot like spying," Izuku chuckled nervously. "But I was just trying to find some people I know, it wasn't anything untoward… wait, how did you know that this was the best place to overlook the room from?"

Blake's eyes widened, panic flickering through her eyes. Izuku thought he actually saw her bow twitch a bit, but that was probably just a trick of the light. Cloth didn't move like that.

"Well, um," she muttered. "I just… as a huntress, I always have to have a strategic grasp of my environment… since I want to be a huntress of course—"

"Hello!"

Whatever she was going to say was forgotten as both of them turned towards the overly cheerful voice that had called out to them. Both Izuku and Blake raised an eyebrow as a muscular girl with a mane of golden blond hair approached them, tugging behind her—

Izuku had to blink to make sure he wasn't seeing things. He certainly hadn't expected to see her again.

* * *

_**RWBYRWBYRWBYRWBYMHAMHAMHAMHA**_

Ruby had never expected to see him again.

Sure, she didn't think he'd get into any more trouble over the Torchwick incident than she did, but she certainly hadn't expected him to also be going to Beacon. He looked around her age, maybe a bit older, and she had gotten in two years early. Had Professor Ozpin also offered him early enrollment? That meant she wasn't the only one! She had normal knees! Or at least slightly less unusual knees!

Now, most people would expect such a revelation to calm her down, maybe lead to her trying to befriend him, something like that. Those people did not know Ruby Rose, weapons nut and introvert extraordinaire. Factoring in that the last time she saw Izuku Midoriya she accused him of being a criminal, tried to cut him in half with her scythe, and then got him arrested, she didn't think he would be in any way eager to see her again. And considering she'd already made one negative friend in Weiss and only one positive friend in Jaune, she was in no hurry to provoke his possible outrage.

Which of course meant that as soon as she expressed all this to Yang when she spotted him and the black-haired girl huddled together in the corner of the ballroom, her older sister promptly decided to drag her kicking and screaming into social interaction. Curses! You'd think she'd have learned better than to tell the blond dragon devil anything after fifteen years.

"I believe that you two may know my sweet little sister here," Yang grinned, shoving Ruby in front of the pair.

"I guess you could say that," Izuku said, cocking an eyebrow. "Red, right?"

"Uh, Ruby, actually," she corrected. "But you can call me Crater—actually just call me Ruby. And, I wanted to say sorry about last time. You know, thinking you were Neopolitan."

"That? Don't worry about it," he assured her with a smile. "I'm just sorry I wasn't able to help you catch that villain."

"No problem," Ruby replied, inwardly sighing in relief that he didn't hold a grudge. "He ran away from us before and next time we'll be fully trained huntsmen. We'll catch him."

"Right. So, how do you and Blake know each other?"

Blake? Oh, that was the black-haired girl's name. Ruby looked at her only to find the ninja girl's amber eyes narrowed at her, as if trying to place her.

"Aren't you that girl who exploded?" she asked eventually.

"Exploded?" Izuku said, his eyes locking onto Ruby with new interest.

"Well, sort of. It wasn't my fault!" she protested. She didn't want her possible new friend to think of her as Crater Face.

"How exactly did you explode?" Izuku inquired. "Do you have a semblance that does it? No, yours was that rose petal speed you used at the dust shop. That means it was something else, right? Were you sweating when you exploded?"

"Uh, a girl waved some fire dust in my face and I sneezed on it," Ruby answered, cocking an eyebrow. "Sweating?"

Yang leaned into her ear. "You sure this guy's alright?"

Izuku instantly deflated, sinking back into the wall. "Sorry, it's… it's a long story."

"I know how that feels. I have a long story right here," Blake said, holding up a black book. "That I will continue to read. As soon as you all leave."

Yang rolled her eyes. "Yeah, I think these two might be lost causes, Rubes."

"Aw," Izuku sighed.

"What's it about?" Ruby asked Blake. "The book, I mean."

Blake sighed. "A man with two souls, both noble but fighting for control of his body."

"That sounds awesome."

"That's what I said," Izuku chuckled. Even Blake cracked a small smile at that. There, that was her opening. Stories was how she would connect with these two and maybe get to borrow that book later.

"I love books," Ruby pressed on. "Stories about heroes, and monsters, and knights. It's part of the reason I want to be a huntress."

"Why's that?" Blake mocked. "Hoping you'll live happily ever after?"

"Well, I'm hoping we all will. Ever since I was a girl, I wanted to be just like those heroes in the books, someone who fought for what was right, and protected people who couldn't protect themselves."

For a moment, she worried she might have blown it, gotten too far away from books and dived too much into her big huntress hopes and dreams. But, as soon as the words left her mouth, she saw Izuku and Blake's smiles widen.

"That's very ambitious for a child," Blake complimented. Immediately after though, an air of regret came over her face. "Unfortunately, the real world isn't the same as a fairy tale."

"Well, that's why we're here," Ruby declared. "To make it better."

"To save people with a smile."

"Huh?" Ruby cocked an eyebrow. She, Blake, and Yang all turned to Izuku, who suddenly went bright red at their attention. "What do you mean?"

"Why would you be smiling that people need to be saved?" Yang asked. "That's kind of creepy, dude."

"What? No, that's not what I meant," Izuku sighed. He took a deep breath and then looked up at the three girls. "You see, there's… a huntsman that I admire. A great hero, who protected the innocent with everything he had, always ensuring that whatever threatened them, whether it was villains or Grimm or disasters, would not hurt them. He would save them with a huge smile on his face. Because as long as he was there, they would be saved. And everyone, who knew about him of course, knew that as well. That there was nothing to fear as long as he was there."

A huntsman who protected everyone with a smile? Whose very presence made people feel safe? A white cloak fluttered through Ruby's mind, warmth spreading through her heart.

"You really admire this guy, don't you?" Yang smirked, her wistful grin letting Ruby know her sister was thinking of the same person she was.

Izuku nodded, an excited smile spreading across his face. "I do. I want to become like him, a hero who saves everyone."

"Everyone?" Blake raised an eyebrow. "You don't really think you can save everyone, right?"

"Well, no. But that doesn't mean I'm not going to try," Izuku replied. "At the very least, if I can save people, make people believe that I will always save them, then it might do more good even when I'm not physically there. After all, if villains believe there's no point in fighting me then they might not even risk committing their crimes, or people could feel safe in their everyday lives."

"You could keep the Grimm away! If everyone felt completely safe, there would be no negativity to attract them," Ruby gasped. "That's incredible!"

"It's certainly ambitious," Yang said, shooting Izuku a respectful smirk. "But do you really think you can pull it off, Green Bean?"

"Green Bean?"

"Of course he can do it!" Ruby declared.

Logically, she understood that the feat her new friend was describing would be highly improbable at best, but she couldn't help it. The passion in his voice, the determination, it was inspiring. The idea that someone could become so strong, so skilled, so genuinely amazing as a hero that they were able to help people just by existing was so alluring, a pure wish to help others. And Izuku seemed so earnest when he spoke of it. Ruby had grown up in a loving family with a stable home life, but between her mother's death and dad and Uncle Qrow's issues, she was more than aware of the darker aspects of the world. Blake was a hundred percent correct that life wasn't a fairy tale.

But, like she'd said, that was why they were there, why she was here at Beacon. To make it better. And Izuku's dream, it sounded like it could make things a whole lot better. Who knew he was such a cool guy?

"Thanks, Ruby," he said, sharing a smile with her. "Though, there is something I have to handle first—"

"What in the world is going on here? Don't you know some of us are trying to sleep?"

Ruby froze the moment she heard the shrill voice, dreading the inevitable sight even as she turned to face her.

"Oh no, not you again!" she and Weiss Schnee both yelled at each other.

"Why am I not surprised that you're the one causing this racket?" the heiress growled.

"Hey, don't talk like that to my sister!" Yang shouted back. "What's your problem anyway?"

"She's a hazard to my health!"

"You waved fire dust in her face!"

"She knocked over my fire dust!"

"SHUT THE FUCKING HELL UP!"

Ruby slammed her hands against her ears as the deafening roar tore through the ballroom. Everyone, not just her, Weiss, Yang, Blake, and Izuku, but everyone, whirled around to the edge of the chamber where the booming demand had originated from.

There, sitting up in a ragged, patchwork sleeping bag with a sizable radius of empty floor around him, was a faunus boy with sharp wolf ears and a messy head of pale blond hair. His blood-red eyes glared daggers at them, his face fixed in a rabid scowl.

Ruby couldn't help but cower under his fury, feeling like she was face-to-face with a hungry lion that she'd just woken up from its nap. Which, in a way she guessed they did. Like Weiss had said when she'd first charged in and become part of the problem, their conversation was hardly quiet.

Unfortunately, the heiress didn't seem to appreciate the foul-mouthed support for her original goal. "How dare you? I will not be spoken to so coarsely, you mangy ruffian—"

"Can it, Ice Bitch!"

"_Excuse me?!_"

"Okay!" Ruby interceded jumping in front of Weiss. "He's not wrong, you know. You were saying the same thing. People are trying to sleep, and we all have a big day tomorrow. Right?"

Weiss glared at her and shot one over her shoulder at the wolf faunus, before turning away in a huff and returning to her sleeping bag. Ruby glanced behind her and, to her great relief, the wolf faunus had already laid down and closed his eyes. All around him, the various prospective students muttered amongst themselves, shooting him mistrustful looks.

"Well, that was a thing," Yang noted with a frown. "I get that we should have been quieter, but _sheesh_. Someone's got a temper."

"Both of them do," Blake pointed out, her amber eyes glaring in Weiss' direction.

Yang shrugged. "Oh, don't get me wrong. I'm no fan of the ice queen. But I can't say I'm a fan of any girl getting called a 'b' word."

"Sis, I just heard it," Ruby sighed. "I've heard it before. You don't need to call it the 'b' word."

"No, you didn't," Yang teased, playfully poking her in the cheek. "You, my sweet, innocent little sister, will never hear such horrible, horrible language."

Ruby rolled her eyes. "Right. Well, see you tomorrow, Blake. Izuku."

"Night, you two," Blake replied. "It was… nice, talking with you."

"Thanks. You too. Izuku?"

"What?" the green-haired boy stuttered, roused from a daze. "Oh, right. See you guys tomorrow. Maybe we'll see each other in initiation."

"Yeah," Yang agreed. "And miss Mr. Potty Mouth over there."

Ruby wasn't so sure about that. Before she had spoken to him, Izuku had been staring straight at the wolf faunus boy, just like so many others in the ballroom.

The only difference between him and the others, was that he'd had an almost euphoric smile on his face at the sight of the blond boy.

* * *

_**RWBYRWBYRWBYRWBYMHAMHAMHAMHA**_

Over the course of his millennia of life, Ozpin had experienced many comforts. Some, such as the embrace of the woman he'd loved and the light sound of their children's laughter, he knew were gone forever and were best left forgotten. But others had proven constant throughout the eons: coffee, tea, the pattering feet of blissfully innocent children. Each of them was a mundane but necessary comfort that kept the slog of his eternal existence bearable. And of those joys, he found that the most exquisite, the treasure among treasures, was a deep, uninterrupted night's sleep.

Which of course meant that his scroll immediately started buzzing as soon as he laid down in his emerald sheets.

Letting an exhausted sigh, he heaved himself upright and reached for his scroll. Then he realized that since it had only buzzed once instead of constantly ringing that he had merely been messaged, not called. He briefly considered setting the device back down and reading it in the morning, but quickly dismissed such sloth and snatched up his glasses. If this was crucial information about the Queen's movements from Qrow or one of the others, he could not afford to waste a moment reacting to it.

Of course, once he had put on his glasses, he found that the message was not from his old friend, but from Mr. Midoriya.

"_I found Kacchan! __"_

Below the message was a picture of a wolf faunus with pale blond hair lying in a sleeping bag in the ballroom, a piercing crimson eye glaring back at the camera with barely restrained fury. A very familiar fury. Damn it, if he wasn't dead tired from the day, he had a feeling identifying where he knew the young man from would be simple. As it was, he was having trouble keeping his eyes open at all.

Still, it brought a smile to his face that Izuku had already found one of his friends. After having spent so much time struggling just to keep his own quest afloat, it was welcome news that the interdimensional hero was having far better fortune.

As it was, he raised his glasses to rub his exhausted eyes, and then took the darn things off, replacing his scroll on his nightstand. After a good night's sleep, he would be perfectly capable of assisting his young friend with background information on this Bakugo's reincarnated life on Remnant.

His scroll buzzed again, this time ringing incessantly to suggest a call. Ozpin sighed and checked the identification before putting it to his ear. "Leonardo, while it is always good to hear from you, I must remind you that there is a significant difference in our time zones. Can this wait a few hours?"

"_I'm afraid not, Ozpin. There have been some very suspicious movements among certain criminal families over here."_

The headmaster cocked an eyebrow. "Salem?"

"_Possibly. Unless one of the gangs somehow managed to hold their own against Raven's little protection racket on their own," _the lion faunus said.

"Not very likely, but stranger things have happened," Ozpin replied, fully aware that he was one of those stranger things. "I'll send Qrow over to investigate, but unless he finds anything connecting it to the Queen, we may have to let the local authorities handle any gang violence."

"_Then I suggest you inform Vale's police to brace themselves," _Lionheart advised. _"One of my contacts just sent world. The Malachite Syndicate is looking to expand into your kingdom."_

Of course they were. Because with a rash of dust robberies, increased White Fang Activity, a comatose Fall Maiden, and an interdimensional incident already on his plate, why shouldn't the universe see fit to lump in something else for him to worry about?!

The ancient wizard felt the weight of all his many years settle on his shoulders and allowed himself a brief moment to wallow in his impotence. Then, he picked himself up, steeled his face, and made ready to do whatever he could to his kingdom, and the rest of Remnant, safe.

Sleep would have to wait.

* * *

_**RWBYRWBYRWBYRWBYMHAMHAMHAMHA**_

Katsuki Bell was not what anyone would call an easy-going person, but this was ridiculous! Ever since he won that damned Scholarship Tournament to come to Beacon, it was like the universe was conspiring to piss him off as much as possible!

First, there were the stares and the mutterings. Unlike most of the others back at the orphanage, he had lived a good chunk of his life off Menagerie, so he was no stranger to how panicky humans could be around him. He imagined it was even worse than when he was younger, since back then he wasn't always so open with how little of their crap he was going to put up with. Vale might have been one of the more 'progressive' kingdoms, but when someone had his attitude with his looks, people would come to their own conclusions.

He'd tried to do as Kali had asked of him and not cause any trouble. He'd even refrained from blowing some Winchester asshole through a wall when the bastard had made a crack about the school letting in dogs. But, by the end of the day, he'd gotten so tired and so sick of it all that when the Ice Bitch, Moon Eyes, and Poufy Hair hadn't been able to _shut their fucking mouths and let him sleep_, he hadn't been able to keep himself from going off at them. Suffice to say, that hadn't made him seem any friendlier.

Well, let the weaklings talk! A wolf didn't care what a sheep thought when it was ripping its throat out! He wasn't here to make friends. He was here to become the strongest huntsman! And if he had to crush all these losers to prove it, then so be it! There wouldn't be a single one of them left alive!

"Hi there! You're Katsuki, right? My name is Izuku!"

And then there's _this _asshole!

He'd first noticed the green-haired bastard when he'd yelled at the trio of girls, the minor character sitting near them next to Blake Belladonna (he figured out who she was as soon as he saw her bow twitch. She looked almost exactly like a younger Kali). He hadn't thought much of him until the creep had whipped out his scroll and taken a picture of Katsuki like he was some zoo animal, a dumb grin across his face. You'd think he'd never seen a faunus before.

He'd managed to avoid him throughout breakfast, but it seemed his luck had run out in the locker room. As soon as he retrieved his weapons from his assigned locker and slammed the steel door shut, the bastard was waiting in a green jumpsuit with his hand outstretched.

Katsuki's eyebrow twitched and his hand began to rise, sparks crackling across his palm. The green-haired bastard's eyes darted to the sight, his smile widening even further.

"You cause explosions," the idiot stated. "That's great!"

The wolf faunus growled and tugged down his hand. He hadn't meant to use his semblance. While like Kirishima's, or half of Kirishima's at least, it didn't cost any aura like most did, it also had a nasty habit of responding to his emotions at times, which, given his temperament, that had resulted in more than a few scoldings from the hags at the orphanage. And this kid, despite the fact that he'd never seen him before, just made him… _pissed_. More than usual. Like the asshole was looking down on him!

Except Katsuki had been looked down on by every human he'd ever met, and he knew what it looked like. This moron, for whatever reason, didn't have an ounce of disdain _or_ pity on his face. So why was he so infuriating?!

He needed to keep his cool. Beacon was his best chance to get as strong as he possibly could, the upcoming Vytal Festival his best chance to make his mark on the world. He would not blow that shot by getting expelled for starting a fight before initiation even started.

"Piss off, Broccoli Hair," he sneered.

"Broccoli Hair?"

Katsuki didn't bother dignifying that with a response, instead stomping away. He clipped his belt of grenades around his waist and wrapped his gauntlets over his wrists. He marched through the aisles of steel, past Poufy Hair and Moon Eyes, past Ice Bitch and Pyrrha Nikos, and even that blond wet noodle muttering about "locker 636" or whatever.

They were strong. They had to be strong if they got into Beacon, even if Moon Eyes looked like a toddler and Wet Noodle didn't remember where he put his damn gear. This was one of the most prestigious huntsman academies on Remnant, and that meant only the best of the best would survive, which was exactly what he needed. Iron sharpened iron, and only the finest of whetstones would bring out his best.

He would become the strongest huntsman in the world. And then no one would look down on him ever again.

* * *

_**RWBYRWBYRWBYRWBYFATEFATEFATEFATE**_

"Broccoli Hair?"

Never had Izuku been so disappointed to not be called 'useless'. After he'd seen Kacchan in the ballroom, so many things that had seemed so muddled and daunting had suddenly felt so much clearer. With the exception of his wolf ears, his childhood companion had looked and acted exactly as he had back on Earth, surly attitude and all. And while this pretty much confirmed that Blake was not Momo, it also meant that he would be able to identify his classmates quite easily when he saw them, especially if they had abilities similar to their old quirks like Bakugo seemed to have. Though whether their quirks had somehow transferred over to their new bodies or if it was simply a semblance was something he would have to discover. Something he had hoped to discover with his first find's help.

Alas, it looked like it would take much more to jog his reincarnated classmates' memories than just finding them. And come to think of it, the Gods hadn't actually mentioned _how _he was supposed to make them remember. Another thing he really should have asked about.

Well, he technically had until Kacchan died to figure out how to make him remember. So, since he was trying to get into Beacon anyway, he might as well try to get onto the same team as him. If they were partners then Izuku would be able to keep in check, make sure he didn't pick a fight he couldn't win. Of course, given that he was Kacchan, those fights were likely few and far between.

Though, given _he was Kacchan_, he would probably seek out those fights specifically to prove that he could win them. And then yell at Izuku for trying to help him. Granted, Izuku was just as likely to pick those fights himself for the sake of saving anyone who happened to be endangered by the other side. So, same end result really. They stood a better chance of surviving those fights together than alone.

"Ouch. Struck out there. Eh, Green Bean?"

Izuku turned down the locker aisle, Ruby and Yang approaching him. The young hero sighed. "It seems you're not the only one who thinks I look like a vegetable."

"Yeah, but I do it out of affection," Yang assured him. "You know that, right?"

"She does it with everyone," Ruby piped up.

Izuku waved them off. "It's fine. I've been called worse."

"I can only imagine," Yang said, shaking her head as Kacchan marched out of the locker room. "Why'd you even bother with that guy? He seems like a jackass."

"It's complicated," Izuku replied nervously. He couldn't tell them the actual reason. They'd think he was insane. "Let's just say I know what it's like to be avoided by everyone. He might be a bit prickly, but you saw the wide breath everyone was giving him in the ballroom."

"That might have been for good reason," Yang pointed out. "I've seen Beowolves friendlier than Sparky over there."

"Eh, give him a break, Yang," Ruby nudged her sister. "People are hard. I mean, you were just telling me to make friends, right? Why not him?"

Yang shrugged. "All I'm saying is that I pity the poor soul who ends up as his partner. And, speaking of partners, how would you feel about being on Ruby's team, Izuku?"

"What?! Yang!" Ruby protested. She smacked her face into her hands.

"What?" Yang grinned. "All I'm saying is that you two might work well on a team. You've already fought together, you've seen each other's weapons in action, and you both want to help people. I'd say that's a solid start to a friendship."

"Yeah, but you can't just say that outright…"

"I wouldn't mind being on your team," Izuku said.

Ruby whirled around to face him, her eyes wide. "What?"

Izuku smiled. "Sure. That sounds great."

It wasn't like he knew anyone else at the school, except Blake, who was hardly his biggest fan. As long as he got onto the same team with Kacchan, it didn't really matter who else he was paired up with, and despite their combative first impressions of each other, Ruby was really nice. Sure, she was a little awkward, but he was hardly one to talk about that. Her talk last night about making the world better was inspiring, putting words to an innate desire he'd always felt but so often struggled to put into his own speech, almost sounding like something All Might could have said.

Ruby nervously rubbed the back of her head. "That's great. I mean, you seem really nice and cool and you have normal knees—"

Izuku was about to ask what knees had to do with anything (had Ozpin missed something when he was educating him about Remnant's customs?) when their attention was drawn to the next aisle, where a blond boy in a sweater and ill-fitting armor had been pinned to a locker by a red and gold spear. A redheaded girl in Greek looking armor plucked the spear from his clothing, while Weiss Schnee glared at the unlucky boy.

"Oh," Yang cringed. "Looks like Vomit Boy struck out even worse than you did, Green Bean."

"Poor Jaune," Ruby muttered.

The locker room's loudspeaker crackled to life. Professor Goodwitch's voice poured over the room. _"Would all first-year students please report to Beacon Cliff for initiation. Again, all first-year students report to Beacon Cliff immediately."_

Weiss turned up her nose at the boy, Jaune apparently, and marched out of the room. The redheaded girl casually waved at him and did the same. "It was nice to meet you, Jaune."

"Likewise," the blonde murmured, sagging against the locker.

Izuku, Ruby, and Yang approached the downed boy. The former two helped him to his feet while the latter hung back and shook her head.

"Having some trouble there, ladykiller?" Yang teased.

Jaune sighed. "I don't understand. My dad said that all women look for is confidence. Where did I go wrong?"

"Snow Angel probably wasn't the best start," Yang chuckled striding out of the room.

Ruby rolled her eyes, supporting the dejected boy on her shoulder. "Come on, Jaune. Let's go."

"Right," he muttered. "I don't suppose you guys know where locker 636 is? Also, who are you?"

"Oh, I'm Izuku. Nice to meet you."

"Jaune. Same." The blonde shyly grinned. "So, um, what's your weapon?"

"My what?"

"You know, your weapon," Jaune said. He turned to Ruby. "You asked me. That's a normal thing to ask, right? Everyone has one?"

"Well, yeah. Everyone cool, at least," Ruby snorted. She whirled on Izuku, sparkles in her silver eyes. "So, what is your weapon? It's your boots, right? They probably have some super awesome dust cannons in them, right?!"

Izuku felt a bead of sweat drop down his forehead. "Um, I guess you could call them that. But they don't have cannons. Or guns of any kind."

Ruby's smile immediately evaporated. "Oh. Well… um… that's nice."

"Don't worry," Jaune said. "My sword is also not a gun. It's apparently a 'classic'."

"Heh, it is," Ruby grinned before turning back to Izuku. "So, if they don't have guns, what do they do? Do they have a name?"

"Oh, um, well, they're called Iron Soles," Izuku mumbled, recalling the name Mei had proclaimed for them when she'd first entrusted her 'baby' to him. "You see, my fighting style is kick-based, but I only changed over to it recently, so my legs aren't nearly as strong as they should be for it. So, the Iron Soles maximize what strength they do have and handle most of the recoil so I don't hurt my body."

"Really? That's awesome!" Jaune cheered.

Ruby looked decidedly less impressive. "Well, it's practical, I guess. Still think they could use a gun."

Izuku shrugged. "Maybe. But they do have a blowback function. It adds a second impact to my attacks if I hit hard enough."

"So could a gun."

Izuku and Jaune glanced at each other and shared a laugh. Ruby pouted, clearly disappointed that the boys did not share her enthusiasm for firearms.

At last, the trio arrived at Jaune's locker. The blonde hefted himself onto his feet and entered the combination into his storage compartment. Then, he did it again another three times before he finally remembered the right one.

The door popped open and Jaune retrieved a longsword in a white and gold sheath.

"Is that your weapon?" Izuku asked.

Jaune nodded. "Yup. Crocea Mors."

"It's beautiful."

"Thanks," Jaune said, though his face was thick with melancholy. "My great-great-grandfather used it in the war."

"The war?" Izuku muttered, internally panicking. Here was where his studying with Ozpin would pay off. "The Great War?"

"Yeah," Jaune confirmed, dismissing whatever nervousness he detected in the young hero's voice. "It's been in my family ever since. My dad used it as a huntsman and his dad used it before him."

"That's cool," Izuku said. "Your family has been helping people for generations as huntsmen."

"It is really cool," Jaune agreed, but with a frown marring his face. "And now, I'm going to live up to that. I'm going to be a huntsman."

"You betcha!" Ruby grinned, patting Jaune on the back. "We're all going to become the most amazing huntsmen Beacon's ever seen!"

Izuku could only smile at the pair. It all felt so familiar. He was about to take a test to enter a prestigious school, been brushed off by Kacchan, and had met a bubbly girl and a boy with ambitions to live up to his heroic family lineage. There were certainly many differences between Ruby and Jaune, and Uraraka and Iida but the surface level similarities were undeniably comforting to the aspiring hero. After a week of receiving a crash course on just how different Remnant was from Earth and the knowledge of the titanic task before him, to have some sort of a familiar atmosphere… it fanned the small spark of hope that had sprung up from seeing Kacchan into a decent-sized blaze.

He had found one of his classmates. He would find the rest. But for now, all he needed to do was pass initiation and get close to Kacchan.

It was time to test out his landing strategy.

* * *

**It took me a bit to figure out how exactly to work Izuku having aura, but since RWBY confirmed that aura boosting and shielding is something that has to be trained to maintain during Oscar's training and MHA just had the Endeavor Intern Arc that included Izuku training to handle multiple factors in his mind at once so he could safely use Black Whip, I based it off that, as if aura was another of his quirks that he has to learn to balance with One For All.**

**If you wish to see more of this story, vote for it to be updated next month in the poll on my profile.**

**An extra huge thank you to my patrons: ArcherMcMuffin, Gregg Tracton, Keith Traction, Annaya Chan, Nora Okonus, Paula mandel, KefkaesqueXIII, Christian Howard, and SanyaBane.**

**Thank you for Reading! I hope you enjoy what comes next!**

**Go Forth and Conquer!**


	3. Chapter 3

**Hello there! Important message time.**

**So, since 2020 began my life has gone through a number of tumultuous events that have forced me to reexamine my trajectory in life. For those of you who don't know, my chosen path is that of a writer, screenwriter specifically. And for one to even have a chance in that business, they need to produce a portfolio of original work. I have created some work, but I need to create more and fine-tune the ones I have. That, in addition to the rigors of college, has forced me to reexamine just how much time I've been putting into fanfiction. It is time I believe well spent and will continue to spend, but I must reallocate my efforts if I am to have any hope of creating a successful career. I do not intend to stop writing fanfiction, I started all my stories because I want to tell them and I intend to finish them. By some changes are necessary.**

**1\. I will be freezing my Pat reon. To those of you who don't know, this means that the page itself will stay up and all the Teasers Chapters and Story Ideas will still be available to Patrons, but there will be no monthly payout. If my schedule is to be as mercurial and inconsistent as I expect it to be in the future, it would be unfair and irresponsible to have money involved in the equation in any manner. I will create and post the February Teaser Chapter, but after that I will likely not be active there.**

**2\. The monthly poll stories of 'The Third Faction' and 'One to Find All' will change to a joint bi-monthly drop. This has been brewing for a while as it has become apparent that my beta for Third Faction Draconic and I simply need more than one month to produce a chapter of that story. In this manner, if all goes as planned, I will spend one month writing Third Faction, then I will send that chapter to Draconic and he will spend the next month beta-ing it while I write One to Find All, and then both stories will have their chapters posted when ready that month (Feb., April, June, etc.)**

**3\. I will do my best to keep to my update schedule, but as mentioned in Point 1, I am doing this so that I have time to work on my original projects. Due to school, family, or those projects, it is entirely plausible that circumstances may end up causing chapters to be late, sometimes by longer periods. I will do my best to avoid such occasions, but I cannot make any promises.**

**All this said, I must repeat: I have NO intention of leaving any of my stories unfinished. I tell these stories because I want to tell them. They make me happy and knowing they are enjoyed by all of you just makes it even better. For Reading, I cannot thank you enough.**

**Now then, on with the chapter.**

* * *

The whole "getting thrown off a cliff" thing that Ozpin had mentioned was far more terrifying than Izuku had expected. He'd thought it'd be similar to when Pixie-Bob had swept his class into the Forest of Beasts in a landslide, but no. The platforms were spring-loaded and sent each of the prospective huntsmen into hurdling into the sky. He was pretty sure he heard Jaune squealing with terror as he flew.

He probably would have been screaming as well, if he hadn't already had experience flying through the air from when he, Iida, and Kirishima had rescued Kacchan. As it was, he was able to keep enough of his mind together to keep focused on his objective. Which was, ironically enough, still Kacchan.

Professor Ozpin had done what he could to make his job easier for him. When he'd assigned the platforms to the students, he positioned the two of them right next to each other and when they'd been launched, their flight paths had come close together. Kacchan fired off a series of small explosions behind him, taking control of his descent and steadily pushing himself forward. It seemed whether he still had his quirk or his semblance was eerily similar, he had trained the same hard-earned mastery of his abilities he'd had on Earth.

Which meant Izuku needed to catch up to him, as well as make sure he wasn't going to go splat. Initially, his plan had been to use the blowback and recoil absorption properties of his Iron Soles to shave off momentum once he'd dropped into the tree line, hop from branch to branch until he was at a safe enough speed to go the ground. But he couldn't do that until he'd dropped into the forest, at which point Kacchan would have already propelled himself way ahead of him. He needed to increase his forward momentum somehow, shoot himself past his rival.

And so, as he often did, even though he knew he couldn't keep emulating him, he thought to himself 'What would All Might do?'

For some reason, he thought of being slammed into from behind and nearly getting his back broken.

Wait! There was a reason he was thinking of being slammed into from behind and nearly getting his back broken! Back when he and Kacchan had faced All Might in their final exam, his idol had been stranded in midair while Izuku had been making for the exit down the street. And to close the distance, All Might had punched the air! The sheer pressure had easily covered the space between them!

But how much of One for All's power was needed for him to do that? He could safely use eight percent without his aura and fifteen with it. Would that be enough?

There was only one way to find out.

Emerald lightning crackled across his suit, his quirk rising up to its tested limit. After it held steady at eight percent, he brought up his aura, a green energy field flaring to life around him before fading soon after, invisible, but present. Once he recognized that its endurance enhancement had taken effect, he pumped near double the power through his body. His muscles, instead of roaring with agony, hummed with strength. He didn't know how long he would be able to maintain his control, especially in a combat situation, but for now, he only needed a moment to make his move. He clenched his butt cheeks and yelled out from the depths of his heart…

"SMASH!"

He kicked below and rocketed forward, a funnel of wind blasting out from his foot and bending back the trees immediately behind him. His newfound acceleration obliterated his control, he was only just able to reduce One for All's power level before his aura collapsed, but it did its job. He was soaring again, blowing past even Kacchan, who's eyes widened at the sight of him. But instinct, Izuku took the opportunity to smile back at his rival.

Big mistake.

Kacchan roared, whirling around in midair, thrusting his right hand out while his left steadied his wrist. He abandoned the steady, controlled explosions that had gotten him so far, Izuku's sudden leap having equaled their pace. And crucially, it seemed that whether he could remember who he was or not, Kacchan would not allow himself to be bested by Izuku.

A deafening blast thundered through the sky, a storm of fire and force ripped across the Emerald Forest, spilling flames across the verdant foliage. It seemed Kacchan was still capable of his maximum firepower attack.

Unfortunately, said attack also created one hell of a shockwave, shooting Kacchan at least half a mile ahead of Izuku. Which would have been distinctly less of a problem if it hadn't also swatted the green-haired hero out of the sky!

Izuku went careening out of control, wailing in terror as he spiraled through the treetops. He scrambled his legs, desperately implementing his original landing strategy. He bounded from branch to branch, each one, no matter how thick, snapping off and plummeting to the ground as soon as Iron Soles touched them.

However, as off-balance as he was, eventually he missed his mark. His momentum had been reduced enough that he wouldn't die outright, but it would still hurt quite a bit when he hit the grass. At least, if he was using One for All.

He switched off his quirk and brought up his aura. The energy barrier flared to life just in time to soften his landing. This time when he skipped across the ground like a stone, it only felt like he'd hit by a car instead of smacked down by Muscular.

Izuku groaned, slowly rising to his feet. He rubbed the back of his head and glanced around the clearing he'd landed in, taking stock of the situation as he did. He and Kacchan had made eye contact, but since they hadn't landed yet, it didn't count to make them partners. He'd have to track him down, find him before somebody else did. And since Ozpin had made sure he'd memorized where the Ancient Ruins were, he could get there and stake it out until his reincarnated rival arrived.

Because there was no way Kacchan wasn't going to be among the group that made it there. The only hard part would be making it there before… him?

A low growl roused Izuku from his plotting. The young hero dropped into a ready stance and whirled around to the source of the noise, already dreading what he suspected it to be.

Alas, his fears were confirmed when a bone-white mask emerged from the shadows of the forest, a few shambling steps revealing the black bipedal wolf it was attached to. The creature, the Grimm, was at least as tall as the Nomu that had fought All Might at the USJ, though far more gangly than the hulking quirk hybrid had been. Somehow, with the beast's razor-sharp canines in plain view, that fact didn't provide Izuku with much comfort.

Though to be fair, that might have been because of the three other Beowolves stalking into the clearing.

He was surrounded, lupine demons on all sides. These creatures were the bane of Remnant, the monsters that had forced humanity to cower and hide in a handful of cities, relying on natural boundaries to not face the constant peril of extinction. And any settlements that attempted to establish themselves without such protections might as well have already been dead.

The first Beowolf lunged forward, its claw raking for Izuku's throat.

The green-haired hero set his face in stone and hopped back, the beast's talons scraping just short of his neck. Emerald lightning sparked across his flesh. He danced around the monster's outstretched form and swept his leg into the side of the beast's mask. The creature slammed into the dirt, its skull cracked under the force of the kick. When Iron Soles' second impact struck, it shattered completely.

As the beast's form began to dissipate into black dust, Izuku couldn't help but feel a pang of guilt. Logically, he knew that this Grimm wasn't a living creature, it was a monster with more in common with the training robots or Pixie-Bob's earth creations than an animal or person. But he aspired to be a hero, and unless there was no other choice, a hero didn't kill. Going for lethal force right off the bat wasn't something he was used to. Still, if he was going to a huntsman academy, this wasn't going to be the last time he'd have to destroy the beasts of negativity. He'd best become accustomed to it.

A chorus of snarls reminded him that his timeframe for doing so was distinctly small. He twirled around, his leg flying up and smacking a Beowolf's claw aside.

These creatures were the bane of Remnant, but not this species, at least not in such small numbers. According to Ozpin's books, a single Wyvern or Leviathan could wipe out a city, but Beowolves were pack creatures. One was a threat to untrained civilians, but it would take a sizable group to threaten someone who knew what they were doing. And even if that wasn't the case, it was a hero's duty to stand against threats to humanity.

Well, not usually something that large, mostly petty crimes really but—oh, the Grimm was charging.

Izuku ducked under the claw swipe and dashed into the beast's guard. Given the distance required for his wide kicks, normally such a tactic would be unwise, but the Beowolf's arm was at least twice the length of his legs. There was something to be said about fighting foes that lacked typical human proportions.

The young hero leaped into the air and slammed his foot into the underside of the Grimm's jaw. The beast reeled from the strike, stumbling back into its fellows, but unlike Izuku's previous target it managed to hold itself together. His blows were powerful to kill in a single strike but only if he struck a vital area. He must not have hit the skull right.

The other two Beowolves galloped around their comrade advancing on the green-haired boy from either side. With a thick tree trunk behind him, he couldn't move behind and one of two would snag him if he got close to the other.

Of course, just because his escape was blocked didn't mean the route behind him was useless. He turned and used his enhanced speed to allow him to dash up the tree trunk, gaining a height advantage and leaping off the bark just as Grimm lunged for him. One of them managed to nick his side, but the wound was barely a cut. Hardly enough to impede his progress.

Or stall the roundhouse that he was aiming squarely for their heads.

"**St. Louis Smash!**"

His armored boot crashed into the side of one of the Beowolves' skulls and slammed the monster into its fellow. Both beasts were driven into another tree, one of them already fading into nothingness. As soon as he landed, Izuku rocketed over and made sure the other was well on its way.

When he had a second to breathe, he felt rather proud of himself. He'd been worried sick the day before, and though most of that had been from the sheer weight of his mission settling in, he had been curious to see how well he'd fare against the Grimm. He didn't think he'd be single-handedly taking down a Wyvern any time soon, but he was pleased to say that his hero's training had prepared him well for a huntsman's duty.

He turned around, the last remaining Beowolf finally recovered and staring him down, nothing but rabid hatred in its burning crimson eyes. Izuku readied himself to charge. The beast shouldn't have been too much trouble, but only a fool let their guard down in a fight. Nothing good would come of it.

Such as a blur of rose petals jetting out of the tree and decapitating someone with a gigantic scythe. Fortunately, by the time Izuku's startled eyes had shrunken back to their usual size, he was able to recognize that it was the Grimm that had lost its head, not him.

"Izuku, are you okay?" Ruby asked. She dashed to his side and started looking him over, not the least bit concerned about the demonic wolf she'd just casually (and awesomely!) slain. "I saw Katsuki blow you out of the sky!"

"What? Oh right, that," Izuku replied, awkwardly rubbing the back of his head. "No worries. My landing strategy, which I've definitely been practicing for years, is extremely versatile."

Ruby cocked an eyebrow. "Okay? Well, I'm glad to see you made out alright."

"Thanks. It was touch and go for a few seconds there."

"Right," Ruby glanced all around him, the nonchalance she had displayed against the Grimm abandoning her. She rolled on the balls of her feet for a few seconds before she spoke again. "So, I guess this means we're partners."

Eh?

Oh no! He made eye contact with her!

"_Partners_?" he squealed.

"Um, yeah," Ruby flinched. "Do you… not want to be my partner?"

"What? No! No!" he hastily claimed, even though it was a complete lie. He forced himself to calm down, channeling his fondness for his new friend into a reassuring smile. "I just wasn't expecting it."

He held out his hand. "It'd be an honor to be your partner, Ruby."

The silver-eyed girl grinned. She eagerly shook his hand. "You too, Izuku. We're going to be the best partners slash BFFs ever!"

"Eh, yeah…"

This was not good! Well, it wasn't bad, but it completely derailed his plan. He needed to be Kacchan's partner so that he could use the constant exposure to somehow jog his classmate's memory! He couldn't do that if he was Ruby's partner!

No, no, no, he couldn't freak out over this. This was a complication, but not an insurmountable one. It wasn't just the partners who shared rooms, it was each team. And the teams had four members. He'd considered this possibility. He just had to make sure that he and Ruby got onto the same team as Kacchan and whoever he ended up partners with. Simple!

Besides, as he shook Ruby's hand, the red hooded girl's smile radiating like a sparkling diamond, her words from the other night playing through the back of his mind… he couldn't say he'd mind having her as a partner.

He was on Remnant to find his friends, but that didn't mean he couldn't make some new ones along the way.

* * *

_**RWBYRWBYRWBYRWBYMHAMHAMHAMHA**_

"You… _you monsters_!"

Yang had been having a pretty kickass day. She'd gotten to wake up next to Ruby, watch her little sister break out of her social recluse shell a bit, and then go sky diving off a cliff. Even the total _boredom _of trudging through the woods alone, not a soul responding to her many shouts, hadn't been all bad. At least she'd gotten to kick some Grimm butt along the way.

But, these two Ursa bastards, these complete and utter _demons_, had dared to hurt _her _hair! What kind of monsters were they?!

Oh, right, they were Grimm. Well, that meant dad wouldn't get mad at her for beating them to death.

A raging inferno erupted across Yang's hair, an ungodly scream of _fury _emanating from her throat. Her semblance poured energy through her muscles and the blond huntress rocketed into the nearest Ursa. Ember Celica fired on all cylinders as her fists bludgeoned the monstrous bear faster than most people could see, let alone react. One final haymaker and the beast was shot through half a dozen trees. The monster dissolved into blackness, smatterings of fire flickering all over the broken wood.

The other Ursa, like the moron it was, roared, drawing Yang's ire when it could have spent its last few moments of life running. "What?! You want some too—"

"DIIIIIIEEEEEE!"

Whatever rage the huntress had promptly died when an utterly enormous explosion blasted out from behind the Ursa. The Grimm was instantly reduced to paste, and Yang was blown off her feet, flying back and slamming into a tree. She landed on her feet, her aura keeping the bark from cutting into her skin and her fists raised for whatever threat might still be coming.

Amidst the dark smoke, that threat rose. A leering, humanoid figure stalked towards her through the smog. The shadows obscured its exact features, but Yang could make out its glowing red eyes and razor-sharp canines as it raised its hand—

"_Tch_, dammit," the figure scoffed. "I was hoping for Nikos."

Yang cocked an eyebrow. What?

In a few moments, the smoke cleared, and her question was answered at the same time her hopes plummeted.

"Aw shit," she muttered, realizing just what she'd done when she'd looked into those burning red eyes.

Katsuki Bell, her new partner, glanced away and narrowed his eyes at the wreckage she'd left from killing the first Ursa. "Not completely useless at least." He turned and marched back off into the forest. "Come on, Poufy Hair! If you slow me down, I'll kill you!"

"Wait, what?" Yang shouted. Who did this asshole think he was talking to her like that? She'd already gathered he wasn't the most pleasant of people, but that didn't mean he got to outright threaten her!

When he didn't stop stalking away, the huntress growled and shot herself ahead with Ember Celica. She whirled around and glared the wolf faunus straight in the face. "What are you doing? Do you even have a plan? Or were you just going to wander around the forest randomly until we stumbled onto the—"

"The ruins are to the east."

"Huh?" Yang froze. "Wha—how do you know that?"

"We were shot a hundred feet in the air. I used my explosions to extend my fall time so that I could get a lay of the land from above. They were in the same direction as the sun and, since it's morning, that means they're to the east," Katsuki stated, as if it should have been obvious. He brushed Yang to the side and continued onward. "Now come on. We've wasted enough time already. We need to be the first ones there."

Yang couldn't help her wide eyes. This jerk had figured all that out while they were falling from the cliff? He'd had the sense to think of modifying his landing strategy once Professor Ozpin had actually told them what their task was? She'd just been concerned with enjoying the rush of it all and doing some tricks on the way down.

Damn. Sparky was an asshole, but he had his eyes on the prize. She had the feeling that even if a Goliath got in his way, he'd blow the thing to smithereens if it meant getting into Beacon.

She scowled a second after thinking that. Skills or not, that didn't make him anymore pleasant to be around. They were all here because they'd trained for years, worked themselves to the bone. They were all willing to do whatever it took to get into Beacon and become huntsmen. Just because he happened to be stronger or smarter than most didn't give him the right to be a huge jerk, him and Weiss both.

And she was stuck with him for the next four years.

_Great._

* * *

_**RWBYRWBYRWBYRWBYMHAMHAMHAMHA**_

Well, there went that plan.

Blake sighed and brushed a few stray embers off her bow. She'd been following Ruby's sister Yang, hoping to become her partner. The number of people she'd been comfortable teaming up with could be counted on one hand, but the blonde seemed to be a decent mix of good-natured enough not to be prejudiced against the faunus yet also blasé enough that she wouldn't look into certain details about Blake that might lead to… uncomfortable conclusions about her past.

Of course, then the wolf faunus boy with attitude (what was his name? Katsuki?), had jumped in and exploded an Ursa in her face. Oh, and stolen her prospective partner, that too. She was thrown into the bushes, and by the time she'd regained her senses and the ringing in her ears had stopped, the two angry blondes had already seen each other.

Ugh, well, that was inconveniencing. But it wasn't something she couldn't work around. They seemed to know the way to ruins, so she'd just follow them and snatch up her own relic. Then she could be partners with whoever she saw next.

With any luck, it'd be someone halfway tolerable.

* * *

_**RWBYRWBYRWBYRWBYMHAMHAMHAMHA**_

Weiss had gotten used to disappointment in her life. She'd seen her father drag her family name through the mud with a series of inhumane atrocities. She'd watched her mother regress into a bottle instead of fighting back against him. But she hadn't let that disappointment keep her down. She had worked tooth and nail to escape her father's clutches, beaten down every test he'd thrown in front of her, even crushed the Arma Gigas he'd set up as her final barrier, and now, finally, she had gotten to Beacon, to the place where she would carve her own path.

Only to be faced with disappointment yet again.

"Are you sure we're not partners?"

The heiress growled. "I am one hundred percent sure we _are not _partners."

"Are you sure?" Jaune Arc asked again. "I mean, I don't want to get either of us in trouble with the headmaster before we've even gotten in—"

Weiss whirled on the blond buffoon. "The headmaster's stated conditions were that the first person we made eye contact with once we landed were to be our partners for the next four years. _I _was wise enough to divert my gaze from you as soon as I recognized that ridiculous hoodie of yours. Thus, we never made eye contact."

"Um… okay," Jaune replied, a nervous giggle in his voice. He turned behind him. "Well, looks like everything is good, Pyrrha. Arkos is completely legal."

"Wonderful," the Mistral Champion responded with a smile.

Weiss made every effort to keep the grinding of her teeth inaudible.

Wasn't that the most aggravating part? Not only had she barely escaped being saddled with tall, blond, and scraggly as a partner, she'd also had to watch the utter travesty of poor Pyrrha Nikos being shackled with the imbecile in her place. While she was also more than irritated that she had only _just _missed allying with the Mistral champion herself, the fact that such a competent and hardworking young huntress had been weighed down with a ridiculous oaf like Jaune Arc infuriated her even more. Where was the justice in that? The redhead had put so much effort into training and perfecting her talent and skill to world-renowned degrees, and now her partner, who was supposed to support and aid her, would add yet another burden she'd have to carry!

Weiss took a deep breath, the three of them trudging through the forest together. With Grimm afoot, there was safety in numbers. They would travel to the ruins together, and with any luck, she would find a partner for herself, someone who'd made it to the relics on their own.

But anyone who'd made it into Beacon must have been skilled. Even if they did not match up to her rather exacting standards, the most prestigious huntsmen academy short of Atlas wouldn't admit useless vagabonds. That child Ruby and that vulgar wolf faunus aside, however they'd made it in. Jaune Arc must have had some well-honed skill to go along with his abysmal perception and lacking personality. Otherwise, he would never have made it past Professor Ozpin's esteemed wisdom. She was just jumping the gun, making a judgment too quickly-

"Ow!"

"Jaune, are you okay?"

"Fine. It's just a scratch."

Weiss raised an eyebrow. "Why don't you have your aura active? We are in a Grimm infested forest and could be attacked at any moment. We don't have the luxury of being unprepared."

Jaune tilted his head and shot her a dumb look. "My what?"

…

…

… He was joking? This was a joke, right? She didn't have much experience with jokes, most people were too intimidated by her father to try to joke with her, but this was too asinine to be anything but some ill-thought-out attempt at humor, right? Right? _Right_?!

"Jaune," Pyrrha said gently. "Do you know what aura is?"

"What? Um, yeah. Of course I know what aura is," Jaune replied.

Weiss sighed. Good, she could maintain her sanity that one of the most prominent institutions on Remnant had not slipped so badly as to admit someone who didn't even know what aura, the necessary tool of all huntsmen, was.

"Do _you _know what aura is?"

Weiss was confident her titanic scream of frustration was heard throughout the forest.

She didn't care! She didn't care! If that red-hooded little girl walked through the trees right now, she would not complain! She would happily accept her as her partner! Because no one on Remnant could possibly be more infuriatingly ridiculous than Jaune 'dumb as a rock' Arc!

At this point, she would take anyone as her partner! Anyone!

* * *

_**RWBYRWBYRWBYRWBYMHAMHAMHAMHA**_

"Did you not want me to be your partner?"

"Huh?" Izuku replied, zipping through the trees, encased in that green lightning semblance of his. Even still, a noticeable, nervous sweat dripped down his face. "What do you mean?"

Ruby cringed. She'd been working up the courage to ask her new friend that question ever since their eyes had met back in the clearing. True, she probably could have picked a better time, the two of them were jumping from branch to branch across the Emerald Forest and a deafening _caw_ above them signaled that their company was gaining, but the words had just slipped out with her nerves.

"I'm sorry, I know this isn't the best time," she confessed. "But I know a little about trying to fake being excited about something when you're really not, and I don't want to make you think that you have to pretend to like me—"

"I'm not pretending to like you," Izuku assured her. He nervously rubbed the back of his head. "I'm sorry if I made you think that."

"But you didn't want me for your partner?" Ruby concluded. She should have known that even a guy as cool as Izuku wouldn't want to partner up with the freak who got in early. "What you said in the locker room was just you being nice."

"No, no, that's not… I was hoping to partner up with someone else," Izuku confessed. "But that has more to do with me and them, then not wanting to pair up with you."

Ruby raised an eyebrow. "You mean Katsuki? Why did you want to partner up with him?"

"That's… complicated," Izuku said, glancing away. "But I have no problem with being your partner." He leapt over another branch and kicked a tiny Nevermore into black paste, barely breaking stride. He glanced over and flashed her a thumbs-up. "We're going to make a great team."

Ruby wanted to believe him. She really did. But this was a guy who gotten blasted out of the sky and then immediately took down a pack of Beowolves like it was nothing. He'd gone from dodging all her best scythe swings to helping her chase down Torchwick in a split second. She'd accused him of being a criminal and gotten him arrested and he'd just shrugged it off like it was nothing! And what he'd said the other night about his dream, and how he'd said it with such earnest wonder! If his boots had guns in them, he'd be one of the coolest guys Ruby had ever met, just short of Uncle Qrow and Professor Ozpin.

And now he was saddled with her as a partner. Even if her theory was right and he'd been admitted to the school early like her, he was still at least a year older than her. How was he supposed to feel about being paired up with a girl like her, the one everyone looks down on like some oddball, _special _kid, when he wanted to be with some angry, loudmouth, take no malarkey from anyone, wolf faunus?

A flock of baby Nevermores charged out of the foliage, their razor-sharp beaks streaking for her eyes. She flashed Crescent Rose around her, and the monstrous birds were cut to ribbons without even making her break stride.

Seriously, she was just a normal girl with a super awesome sniper-scythe! How was she supposed to assure Izuku that having her for a partner wouldn't be nearly as bad as he was clearly thinking it would be? She knew how to fight. She was great at killing Grimm. But would that be enough? Everyone here was great at killing Grimm, that was their job as huntsmen.

No, she needed to prove herself to her new partner, make sure he knew that anything Katsuki could do, she could do. She hadn't put her best foot forward in their first meeting, and even though she'd recovered in their following interactions, he was still so nervous about being her partner. That was her fault. She needed to fully earn his faith. But how?

Another thunderous _caw_ echoed down from above, a sheet of darkness casting a massive shadow over the treeline that overpowered even the scattered shade of the leaves.

Ruby grinned. That was it!

"Follow me!" She shouted to her partner. "I know how to get to the ruins faster!"

"Huh? What do you—Ruby!"

She twirled her scythe and fired off a volley of rounds below her. The recoil boosted her into the sky and enabled her to snag onto the plumage of the giant Nevermore soaring above them. She glanced over her shoulder just in time to see a tempest of green lightning following her.

Perfect plan! From this high up, they could see exactly where the ruins were, and then they could prod the Nevermore to take them in that direction! Izuku was bound to be impressed by this!

"Ruuuubbbbyyyyyy!" He yelled over the wind racing past their faces. "How are we going to get down?!"

Ruby's smile instantly fell. Okay, so maybe it wasn't a completely perfect plan.

Still, if all else failed, there was always landing strategies. He had said his was extremely versatile.

* * *

_**RWBYRWBYRWBYRWBYMHAMHAMHAMHA**_

"How about a cute little pony?" Poufy Hair said, picking up one of the white knight chess pieces. "That good with you?"

Katsuki barely heard her, his glare leveled around the crumbled stone ruins. Specifically, the multiple ornate pillars that encircled the main shrine.

Even more specifically, the_ empty _pillars.

They weren't first. Some other pairs had beaten them here. Yes, things had worked out alright and they were still plenty left, but what if there hadn't been? What if there'd been nothing? What if he'd lost his chance to get into Beacon?

Damnit! This was all that green-haired bastard's fault! He'd had the perfect landing strategy to use the momentum and height of the launch to let him fly all the way to the ruins using steady, controlled blasts! But then Broccoli Hair had gotten in front of him and he'd just… he just… well, he didn't know what happened! But he couldn't tolerate the idea of that vegetable piece of shit overtaking him!

He'd used his maximum blast to smack that idiot out of the sky and launch himself way further ahead. Unfortunately, he'd needed a crucial few seconds for his body to recover after using so much power and by the time he was ready to resume his controlled explosions, he'd already fallen through the treeline. And then gotten stuck with Poufy Hair as his partner, with a certain decidedly _unwelcome _tagalong.

"Come out, coward," he shouted towards the brush. "The stench of your weakness makes me sick."

Poufy Hair cocked an eyebrow. "Um, Sparky—"

"What did you call me?!"

The other blonde rolled her eyes. "Who are you yelling at? What could the bushes have possibly done to piss you off?"

"It's not the dumb bushes!" Katsuki screamed, before snarling at the foliage. He snatched up one of the white rooks. "It's the coward hiding inside them."

He promptly tossed the castle piece into the leaves. Just as expected, a tanned hand shot out from the greenery and snatched the figurine from the air. A moment later, its master strode out of the bush, looking none too amused.

"Woah," Poufy Hair remarked. "How long have you been following us?"

Blake Belladonna shrugged. "Since this one nearly blew me to smithereens while you were fighting those Ursa."

Poufy cringed. "Ouch. Sorry. He does that." She turned to Katsuki. "Did you know she was there the entire time?"

"Hard not to," he said. "And as long as she stays out of my way, we won't have any problems."

It was why he'd thrown her the piece he had. He didn't know exactly how the headmaster planned to decide the teams, but he doubted the choice of chess pieces as the relics they had to retrieve was coincidental. He'd briefly met the huntsman after winning the Scholarship Tournament and gotten a decent enough read on him. Ozpin was nice enough, but he was the type to keep everything close to the chest, secrets within secrets. If he did something, it was a solid bet that there was a purpose behind it.

A chessboard had eight non-pawn pieces on each side, of which six were paired, which would have made for a total of sixteen pieces. There were twenty pillars in the ruins circle, which meant he'd probably added an extra white and black queen and king so that everything was paired. Which meant it was important that everything _have _a pair. There was still an extra white knight and rook, so that meant whoever got the former (hopefully Nikos) would probably form a team with him and Poufy Hair and whoever got the latter would be stuck with the coward.

As long as he didn't have to see her crappy face on a regular basis, he didn't care who those suckers were.

"AAAAAAHHHHHH!"

"Oh no!" Poufy Hair exclaimed, turning towards the direction of the shrill scream. "Some girl's in trouble!"

Katsuki stared at her for a few seconds and then started walking in the opposite direction.

"Hey! Where are you going?" his partner demanded. "We have to go help her!"

"Why?"

"Why?!" his partner dashed in front of him and blocked his path. "Because they're in trouble! You heard the headmaster! They could die!"

"Die? Please," Katsuki scoffed. "This place only takes the best of the best. Nothing in this forest is worse than an Ursa Major. If they can't handle that, they shouldn't have come."

Poufy Hair's eyes narrowed at him, their violet hue darkening to a burning red. "So, you'll just leave them to die?"

"We can't abandon them just because they can't fight for themselves," the coward challenged, her bow twitching forward. "We're here to become huntsmen, to make a difference."

Katsuki whirled on the black-haired bitch, no shortage of satisfaction coming when she flinched from his blazing glare. "I don't need lecturing from a coward."

Make a difference? This coming from the bitch who'd abandoned her family, including one of the best women Katsuki had ever known, to run off with a pack of losers like the White Fang. Please! He wouldn't rat her out to spare Kali the pain seeing her thrown in prison, but he wasn't going to play nice either. Whatever reason she was here for, if she made one wrong move, he'd burn her to ash.

Unfortunately, his new partner didn't have the same background info about their third wheel as he did. Poufy Hair snatched up the scruff of his shirt and dragged him back to face her. "Listen here, Sparky! I don't care how great you _think _you are! You either start showing some basic tact, or I'm going to put you through a few trees to see if we can find a smaller stick to replace the one _shoved up_ _your ass_!"

Huh. Looked like he'd found a spirted one. She went the Kirishima route rather than the Kali route, taking him head-on and firing back just as hard. Now, the only question was whether she could back up her words and prove a good enough anvil to keep him sharp. She'd made short work of an Ursa, but could she handle him?

"You want to go, Poufy Hair?" he grinned. "Just say the word and I'll blow you away—"

"Heads up!"

Katsuki, Poufy Hair, and the coward all whirled towards the sky, where Moon Eyes dropped down from a giant Nevermore, only to be smacked into mid-flight by that blond wet noodle. No sooner had they collided with a tree than Nikos and the Ice Bitch had dashed out of the forest and across the clearing beside the ruins, quickly making their way into the circle of stone, both girls panting for breath.

"How? _How_?" The Schnee hissed, her pale face flushed bright red. "How could anyone possibly be that dumb!?"

"Oh, it wasn't that bad," Nikos replied, leaning on one of the stone pillars. "He was just trying to help."

"Help!? I am genuinely concerned for your safety over the next four years! Speaking of which…" the Ice Bitch whirled on the other group. "Do any of you three still need a partner?"

The coward's eyes widened and Katsuki let out a mad cackle as he shoved his thumb towards her. A Belladonna and Schnee as partners? That sounded like the setup to a bad joke.

The Ice Bitch marched up to the disguised cat faunus, who could only let out a resigned sigh. "Look, I know we didn't get off on the best foot, but—"

"Do you know what aura is?"

"Um… yes."

The Schnee immediately clasped the black-haired girl's hand and shook it. "Then bygones are bygones. I look forward to our partnership."

"Oh," the coward replied, an eyebrow cocked in confusion. "Great?"

Katsuki scowled. He was hoping for more fireworks. Still, if his hunch about Ozpin's team choosing strategy was correct, at least this meant he could avoid both his biggest headaches in one swoop.

He snatched the other white knight piece off its pedestal and tossed it to Nikos, who easily caught it. "Here. You'll need this."

"Oh," she said, glancing around the ruins. "These are the relics?"

"Apparently," Poufy Hair replied, releasing Katsuki and looking to the trees. A red blur dashed towards them, materializing into Moon Eyes. "Ruby!"

"Yang!"

"Deathstalker!"

Katsuki raised an eyebrow at the Schnee's shout, but his question was answered before he could ask when the edge of the forest she and Nikos had run out of suddenly exploded. Tree trunks were uprooted and tossed about the clearing as an enormous armored scorpion Grimm emerged from the greenery.

The wolf faunus grinned, his palms already tingling with sparks. So, there was something in this place worth killing. The black arthropod monster was even bigger than most of the Deathstalkers back home, its armor thick and rugged with age. He might even break a sweat blowing it to bits.

"Don't worry, guys!" Moon Eyes proclaimed, dashing off in a stream of rose petals. "I've got this!"

"Ruby!" Poufy Hair called out.

Katsuki snarled and blasted after her, a flurry of explosions propelling him forward. Poufy Hair ran after them both, but she couldn't keep up.

Unfortunately, the same soon proved to be true between him and Moon Eyes. Whatever her semblance was that left behind those rose petals, it also made her _stupid _fast and for longer bursts than his more controlled explosions. He could match or maybe even surpass her with one of his maximum blasts but given how he planned to fight the Deathstalker once he arrived, putting that much stress on his body wasn't wise.

Besides, his slower speed also afforded him greater maneuverability. Something that proved quite the asset when the giant Nevermore rained down a swarm of razor-sharp feathers.

The wolf faunus snarled and blasted himself to the side just as the black barrage fell. He glanced back and saw that Poufy Hair was unharmed, the feathers having stopped right before her. Still, she was trapped behind them like the bars of a jail cell. Which was better than her sister at least, whose cloak had been caught under one of the feathers, pinning her in place just as the Deathstalker came upon her. The silver-eyed girl paled as the monster raised its claw.

"Ruby!" Poufy Hair yelled, reaching out her hand just as a white blur rushed past her.

And a green streak, thick with lightning, fell from the sky like a thunderbolt.

"**Manchester Smash!**"

Broccoli Hair crashed into the top of the Deathstalker, his foot ramming an ax kick straight into the monster's heavy bone armor. The giant Grimm's legs gave out and the creature shrieked as it smashed into the dirt. In that time, the Ice Bitch was able to arrive and trap its massive claws under a thick layer of ice. There were befits to be being filthy rich. The amount of dust the move must have cost was more than Katsuki would see in a year.

But he wasn't focusing on that right now, or Moon Eyes getting her cloak out from under the feathers, or the Schnee yelling at her. No, the only thing that was occupying his vision was Broccoli Hair. Having come out of nowhere and forced the monster down, standing atop its form like some fairy tale hero from Kali's books, _victorious_… why were Katsuki's eyes drawn to him?

And why, just for a second, did he not see the green-haired boy at all, but a towering blonde man in a red, white, and blue spandex suit, smiling like a madman as a booming, confident laugh echoed out from his throat?

Then he blinked, that second passed, and everything went back to normal. Broccoli Hair's legs wobbled beneath him as he hopped down from the squirming Grimm, tumbling in between Moon Eyes and Ice Bitch as he went.

"-And furthermore, in addition to breaking proper form and rushing in before we had established a proper order of combat, what possessed you to think that riding a Nevermore was a good idea?!" the Schnee reprimanded. She whirled on the newly arrived green-haired boy. "What made you think jumping off it from fifty feet in the air was a good idea?!"

Broccoli Hair cringed, all traces of the mighty warrior he'd been a second ago evaporating instantly under the white-haired girl's tirade. "Well, I didn't really! I was trying to figure out another way to get down, use my landing strategy but then I saw Ruby in danger, and I kind of… stopped thinking."

"And how was you getting yourself killed supposed to help her?!"

"It wasn't his fault," Moon Eyes protested, though her near-death experience seemed to have robbed her previous spirit. "It was my idea to ride the Nevermore. I thought it would get us to the ruins faster—"

"And get you eaten along the way!" Ice Bitch lectured. "These things aren't petting zoo animals and this isn't a game! What are you going to do the next time you pull one of these childish stunts and there isn't anyone around to bail you out—"

"Hey!" Broccoli Hair interjected, stepping between the two girls, a bit of fire back in his emerald eyes. "Leave her alone. She didn't know all this was going to happen. And, in case you hadn't noticed, her plan worked." He pointed towards the ruins. The rich girl sputtered at the sheer vigor of his defense.

Katsuki raised an eyebrow. Where was that spirit when she was laying into him?

More importantly, did none of them notice that the Deathstalker's stinger was both not frozen and coming right for them?!

"Move you bastards!" he shouted.

His warning came just in time, the three huntsmen-in-training, all of whom seemed to possess some sort of speed enhancement, leaping out of the way just as the golden stinger crashed into the ground. He would have _loved _to have seized the opportunity to blow the Grimm apart, but fighting Deathstalkers was his stock and trade back on Menagerie. He wasn't dumb enough to think he could penetrate the armor of one this old before he got skewered. He _would _have targeted its unprotected underbelly instead, but the Schnee's ice barrier, though successful at keeping the beast pinned, also cut off that avenue of assault. And with the Nevermore already circling around for another path, he couldn't try to flank it.

He had to retreat. But he wasn't running away! Before he left this damn forest, those Grimm would be dust!

* * *

_**RWBYRWBYRWBYRWBYMHAMHAMHAMHA**_

Izuku's legs felt like they were on fire. He'd been working on temporarily increasing his Full Cowl to twenty percent before this Remnant mess had started, but… ow. Still needed a bit more work. If he hadn't dropped his power level and gotten his aura up when he had, his bones would've shattered into nothing even with Iron Soles' recoil absorption. No matter, he could still move, which meant he could still fight.

And there looked to be an awful lot of fighting still to do.

He, Ruby, Weiss, and Kacchan dropped back several yards, the ice barrier containing the Deathstalker steadily splintering in the face of the beast's struggles. Izuku had hoped he would have at least discombobulated the monster with his attack, but it seemed what the book had said about the scorpion beast's armor wasn't overexaggerated. His smash had splintered a web of thin cracks at the point of impact, but the bone itself was still intact. Grimm really were terrifying creatures. The garden variety Beowolves might not have been too much trouble, but the stinger would have struck at least one of them if Kacchan hadn't shouted his warning. If they let their guard down for even a moment, they'd be dead—oh crap the Nevermore had finished circling back.

"Incoming!" he shouted.

A rain of black feathers the size of telephone poles streaked down towards the four prospective students, far more numerous than the previous bombardment Izuku had witnessed from above. Seeing it from the view of the ground, the light of the sun was ever so briefly yet utterly obscured, shadow obscuring the flash of their lives passing before their eyes.

And then the light returned, reflected down by a soaring bronze discus.

It flashed across the sky, a gleaming orange shield, a circle of day cutting through the dark. One after another, it slammed into each of the feathers, knocking them off course and scattering them across the clearing. Each time it bounced off a target, it rebounded straight into another projectile, at times being coated with a thin membrane of black energy and changing course even further. In the space of a few seconds, the entire barrage was harmlessly knocked aside.

The shield soared behind Izuku's group and they all whirled around to watch the shield return to the waiting grip its master, the redheaded girl from the locker room, who together with Yang and Blake, was dashing up to their side.

"I'm sorry!" she called. "Are you all alright?"

Izuku could only gape at her, an action mimicked by Ruby (who was quickly scooped up in Yang's arms) and Weiss. Kacchan just grinned.

"Not bad, Nikos," he said. "Glad to see you live up to your reputation."

The girl, Nikos, flinched at the mention of whatever her reputation must have been. "I do what I can."

"Do what you can? That was amazing!" Izuku cheered. "You must have calculated the exact trajectory and necessary force to strike every single feather! How did you do that in only a few seconds?! Did it have something to do with that black energy that covered the shield?!"

"Oh," she muttered, her eyes flickering away from his gaze. "You noticed that?"

Izuku immediately flinched. He'd gone into fanboy mode, hadn't he? Darn it. Most heroes back home were weirded out when he did that and they were used to dealing with an adoring public. He could only imagine how uncomfortable he'd made this girl—

"Look out!"

He whirled around at the shout, only to catch a glimpse of another feather headed straight for his head. Fortunately, another shield was thrust into the projectile's path, dinging off the white barrier.

Jaune turned back to him, a frenzied look on his face, staggered to his knees by the force of the attack. "Are you okay?"

Izuku cringed, helping his friend to his feet. Another disadvantage of his fanboying, he tended to lose sight of his surroundings. He didn't know where Jaune had come from, but he was grateful for the save.

He glanced up at the sky, the giant Nevermore finally finished its current pass. Unfortunately…

"It's circling back," he said, narrowing his eyes at the enormous demon bird. He glanced back at the Deathstalker, the ice already cracking. "And that thing's not going to stay down for long."

"There's no sense in dillydallying," Weiss argued, pointing at the chess pieces strapped to Yang, Blake, and Pyrrha's belts. "Our objective is right in front of us."

"She's right," Ruby concurred. "Our mission is to grab an artifact and get back to the cliffs. There's no point in fighting these things."

Jaune smiled. "Run and live? That's a plan I can get behind."

Kacchan scoffed turning back and marching towards the Deathstalker.

Yang sighed. "What are you doing now, Sparky?"

"If you idiots are dumb enough to think these things are just going to let us leave, you're free to run," Kacchan replied. He smashed a fist into his palm, a bloodthirsty smirk crossed his face. "I'm going to bury these monsters."

"Actually, the Deathstalker was already buried when we found it," Jaune said. "Didn't seem to do much."

"Shut up, Wet Noodle!"

"Noodle?"

"Are you really so hungry for a brawl that you'd risk all our lives in a battle we don't need to fight?" Weiss challenged.

Kacchan turned back and glared at her. "We're here to be huntsmen. Did you think your life wouldn't be at stake?"

"Okay, okay!" Izuku intervened, stepping between the two. "He's not wrong. That Nevermore controls the sky, we can't just grab relics and run." He turned to Kacchan. "But we also can't fight them both at the same time. We'd have a hard enough time getting through the Deathstalker's armor without having to constantly dodge feather barrages."

"So what do you suggest, Broccoli Hair?" Kacchan growled.

"We _don't _fight them all at once," Ruby said, her eyes wide. "There's eight of us. That's two teams of huntsmen, one for each Grimm. The Nevermore is after me and Izuku, we can lead it away."

"Not alone you won't," Weiss said. "If you two are left without supervision, I wouldn't be surprised if you returned with a Goliath." She looked at Blake. "Are you ready, partner?"

Blake glanced at Kacchan for a moment before nodding. "Let's do this."

"We'll take the Deathstalker," Jaune declared. "We've got more heavy hitters anyway. Better for getting through that armor."

"Stop talking already!" Kacchan snarled. "Are we going to murder these things or what?!"

Ruby looked to Yang. "Be careful, sis."

The blonde grinned. "No worries, Rubes. This guy won't know what hit him."

Ruby nodded and looked to Izuku, Weiss, and Blake. Gone was the flustered schoolgirl. Before them was the same stalwart huntress that could take off a Grimm's head without blinking. "Let's go!"

The trio of red, white, and black took off for the ruins. Izuku hesitated just a moment, glancing back at the Deathstalker team, specifically the wolf-eared warrior in the lead. He had come to this world to find his friends, to save them. If Kacchan died against this Grimm, before he reclaimed his memories, he'd be gone for good.

But that was true of the Remnant natives too. If they died, there was no natural course of souls waiting to ferry them to their true bodies in another world. And if there was one thing he knew more than anything, it was that Kacchan could handle himself. He'd trust him to win, so that he could save him later.

He turned and ran after his partner and the others, the shadow of the Nevermore bearing down on them from above.

* * *

_**RWBYRWBYRWBYRWBYMHAMHAMHAMHA**_

"Alright, so do we have a plan to take this thing out or—"

"DIE!"

"Die?"

Jaune would admit that he was ridiculously inexperienced when it came to huntsmen matters, his ignorance of landing strategies and aura was proof enough of that. But he was pretty sure that running straight at the Deathstalker and screaming 'die' did not constitute a plan.

Nevertheless, that is exactly what Ruby's sister Yang and that wolf faunus guy (what had she called him? Sparky?) did, though the girl blonde declined to make her war cry so specific. Pyrrha sighed but had no choice but to follow them and he in turn had no choice but to follow her (at a much slower pace obviously. She was a star athlete and he'd run out of breath just running from the treeline to protect Izuku).

The Deathstalker burst out of its ice prison, screeching at the huntsmen. Yang and Sparky arrived first, the former going high and the latter going low. The Grimm seemed to ignore the human girl's punches, tanking them on its armor, but its eyes widened slightly at the wolf faunus' approach. It smashed its claws into the ground, cutting off Sparky's assault by taking his explosions on its appendages' bone shielding. Defended from the opening assault, the monster's stinger streaked down for the huntsmen.

Sparky immediately fired off an explosion and ducked back from the strike. Yang, on the other hand, didn't, the stinger smashing into her and ramming her into the ground.

Why hadn't she dodged? She'd seen the stinger coming, Jaune had watched her eyes lock onto it. But instead she'd just smirked and crossed her gauntlets in front of her, letting herself take such a huge hit. Pyrrha only had time to explain the basics of aura to him, but he was pretty sure it was a finite resource. Why waste it by blocking a hit you could have dodged?

Regardless, the Deathstalker was now free to focus on Sparky and focus it did. The giant scorpion eschewed any precise strikes with its stinger and just charged the wolf faunus. The huntsman fired off an explosion and leapt to the side, but the Grimm was quick enough to lash out with one of its claws, smacking the boy across the clearing. With the momentum from his blast, he might have made it all the way to the treeline, if a weird black glow hadn't covered his gauntlets and belt and arrested his tumble. What was that all about?

The Grimm whirled around to continue its assault, but Pyrrha seized the opportunity to leap over its body and get on top of the monster. She scrambled over its armor, somehow balanced, that same black energy coating her shoes, and made her way to its face. She twirled her spear above her head and stabbed down into the beast's eye.

The Deathstalker stood up on its hind legs and shrieked in agony. Somehow, Pyrrha was able to stay on its back, removing her spear and making to stab the other eye. However, she didn't see the stinger descending behind her.

"Pyrrha!" Jaune shouted. "Look out!"

His partner heard his cry, ducking to side just as the stinger slammed into where she'd been a moment before. The golden appendage slammed into the monster's armor, right where Izuku had cracked it before, spreading the splintering all throughout the bone, before flicking to the side and slapping Pyrrha off the scorpion.

Jaune cringed, finally arriving at the battleground. This wasn't working. Pyrrha, Yang, and Sparky were all really strong, but they couldn't break through the Deathstalker's defenses one at a time, or even two at a time. The armor was too thick, and its claws and stinger were too strong, plus the sheer fact that it was twenty times their size and could just crush them if it got on top of them.

But it had to have some sort of weakness. Video games had taught Jaune that everything had a weakness. He wasn't a hundred percent sure that applied to real life, but for all their sakes, he sure hoped it did. He just had to figure it out.

Alright, the thing's armor was focused on top of it and to the front, but it didn't seem to have any bone shielding on its underside. That was probably why Sparky was trying to hit there. The claws could stop such attacks from the front, but if they hit from behind, then only the stinger could maneuver back there and it wasn't much of a defense. But the monster had proven more agile than its size would suggest. If they tried to flank it, the scorpion would just whirl around to smack them away.

Wait, but then how had Weiss had time to trap it with ice?

Izuku! He hadn't been able to penetrate the armor, but the sheer force of his attack still pinned the Grimm to the ground, if only for a second! If they could replicate that kind of attack, they'd have a moment to get behind the monster and blast it with all they had. And if Sparky's explosions had proved anything, it was that a moment was all he needed.

But who would hold the monster down? Pyrrha was amazing, but he didn't think she had the raw strength to force the Deathstalker down. Sparky could do it, but he needed to attack the rear. Which left…

"Yang!" Jaune shouted, the blond girl rising from the crater she'd been smashed into. "Can you pin it down?"

"Pin it down?" Yang grinned, slamming her fists together as her long mane erupted in flames. "Vomit Boy, I am an expert in bug squashing!"

"I'll take that as a yes." Jaune turned to Pyrrha, who was keeping the Grimm's attention with rifle fire. "Pyrrha, make sure its blind side is towards Yang!"

"Got it!" she called back. The redheaded champion kept up her small arms barrage, maneuvering the Deathstalker so that the eye that she'd gorged out was the one facing the blonde brawler. The scorpion wouldn't see her coming.

Which only left one more piece to slide into place.

"Sparky!"

"What the fuck did you just call me, bastard?!"

Jaune flinched, but at the moment his terror of the giant Grimm was greater than the wolf faunus. "Get behind it! You're only gonna have one shot!"

"Like I'll need more!"

Sparky thrust his hands behind him and rocketed behind the Deathstalker. The beast's head flickered towards him, probably attracted by the sound of the explosions, but another barrage from Pyrrha's rifle drew it back. Unfortunately, that prompted it to sweep towards her with its claw.

Jaune rushed in, bracing himself and hoping the large amount of aura he apparently had would be enough to weather the force of the giant pincer. He planted himself beside his partner, clenched his teeth, and raised Crocea Mors' shield.

The Deathstalker struck the metal barrier with the force of a bullhead. Jaune's knees shuddered, an uncomfortable tremor running through his muscles. But he held, and Pyrrha was unharmed, free to continue her barrage and keep the Grimm looking at them.

The yellow flaming comet that smashed on top of it a second later proved why that was a victory. Yang's fist slammed into the cracked bone armor, driving the monster into the dirt, paralyzed and exposed. Just in time for the coup de… coup de gra… coup de—

"DIE!"

That.

Sparky's explosion erupted from behind the Deathstalker, a titanic fireball of thunder and death that flooded over the Grimm. In the blink of an eye, the unprotected scorpion demon was scorched to ashes.

Unfortunately, Jaune had failed to realize that he and Pyrrha being right in front of the Deathstalker and Yang being right on top of it would mean that they'd be caught in said super explosion. He was not ashamed to admit he screamed like a girl when the flames washed over him, both he and Pyrrha buckling down behind their shields to keep from being blown away.

A yellow streak that soared over their heads reminded them that their last ally was not so well protected.

"Yang!" Jaune yelled as soon as the fire faded, coughing from the smoke cloud.

He and Pyrrha ran out of the smoldering grass, where the blonde girl was laid out in another crater, slowly rising into a sitting position.

Pyrrha knelt at her side. "Are you alright?"

Yang groaned. "Alright? Am I alright?"

"Are you?" Jaune asked tentatively. It had been his plan that had led to her being in the blast zone. He should have realized that, but all he could think about was how to kill the Grimm and it had nearly burnt her to a crisp along with it. If she hated him, he would understand—

"I'm better than alright! That was awesome!" Yang cheered, throwing her hands in the air and collapsing on her back. "Man, what a rush! Do all your plans end in explosions, Vomit Boy?"

Jaune chuckled nervously, though he noticed she said his nickname with much more affection than previous uses. "Don't know. This was my first one."

"Really?" Pyrrha remarked.

Yang smirked. "Way to come out swinging then. Ain't that right, Sparky?"

"Stop calling me that!"

Jaune turned to see the wolf faunus striding through the billowing smoke cloud, his boots stomping over the dying embers of the incinerated grass. His teeth were barred at his partner. "If you can't get my name right, then don't bother with some stupid nickname!"

Yang cocked an eyebrow. "How about I call you Kettle then? I'll be pot. And you'll blow your top."

"But for those of us less brave," Jaune spoke up. "What is your name?"

The wolf faunus growled. "Katsuki."

"Nice to meet, Katsuki. My name's Jaun—"

"I don't care, Noodle."

"Great. That's great."

Well, here he was. Sitting in a field of ashes with a combustible wolf faunus marching past him while both their partners glared at his back and a Deathstalker atomized into nothingness. Honestly, he'd expected worse.

Still, with any luck, Ruby and Izuku were doing better.

* * *

_**RWBYRWBYRWBYRWBYMHAMHAMHAMHA**_

"Well, this could be going better," Ruby remarked, panting hard.

She, Izuku, Weiss, and Blake had drawn the Nevermore past the ruins where the chess pieces were, it was far too close to the Deathstalker fight for comfort, and towards a massive canyon, an ancient temple built on both sides, surrounded by segmented stone pillars, and a bridge built between them.

Well, there had been a stone bridge, but then the Nevermore and smashed right through it, so now the four huntsmen were trapped on the far side. Even if the others finished their fight early, there'd be no help coming.

The improvised team had planted themselves on the crest of the temple and locked their aim on the circling Grimm. Ruby and Blake had shifted their weapons to their firearm forms and unloaded every dust round they had at their avian foe, while Weiss unleashed hails of fire and ice from her rapier. Izuku, lacking a ranged method of attack, had taken to defending the girls, streaking across the battlefield and kicking aside every feather swarm the Nevermore rained down on them.

At last, the bird's flight path carried it to the other side of the canyon and out of the huntsmen's sight. Though, the incessant caws that echoed throughout the valley indicated their rest would be a brief one.

"Nothing we do is working," Weiss growled. "At this point, we're just wasting ammunition."

"What else can we do?" Blake pointed out. "That thing's hide is too thick for any of our weapons."

"What about blunt force?" Izuku inquired. "Hide or not, it doesn't have a lot of armor."

Weiss' brow furrowed in thought. "That could disorient it. But you'd need to hit it first, and you can't kick it if it's in the sky."

For some reason, the white-haired girl's comment caused Izuku to glance down at his hand. Specifically, his fingers.

"I've got something," he said. "It's dangerous, but I can make it work if I have to."

"Then we figure something else out," Ruby declared.

"That thing's going to be back soon," Blake reminded them. "We might not have that luxury."

"If it's our only option," Izuku muttered, clenching his fists. "Then I'll gladly take the risk."

"But it's not our only option," Ruby declared. If this move was a danger to her partner, enough that'd he'd hesitated at all bringing it up, there was no way she was letting him take such a risk.

What Weiss had said back at the Deathstalker had been harsh, maybe a little mean, but she hadn't been wrong. Riding the Nevermore to get to the ruins had been a reckless, unnecessary risk, and if it had gone wrong, it might have gotten both her and Izuku killed. She'd wanted to impress him, prove that he wouldn't have to be embarrassed by her, and instead she'd put them both in danger.

No more unnecessary risks. She'd come to Beacon to become a huntress, and that meant it was time to _be _a huntress. Their life would never be without danger, but she wasn't going to add to that or let Izuku do it himself.

Besides, she had a plan.

"Izuku," she continued. "Can you kick those pillars and keep the fragments intact?"

"The pillars? Sure, if I don't go for double impa—oh!" Izuku's eyes widened and a grin spread across his face. "That's genius! You're amazing, Ruby!"

Amazing. He didn't think she was a freak! Or a kid!

"Wait, oh! How sharp is your scythe?" he asked. "Could it get through the hide?"

Ruby cocked an eyebrow. "Crescent Rose? It's sharp enough to cut through anything, but I'd need more force, more momentum which… oh! Now I see what you're getting at! That's brilliant!"

"What's brilliant?" Weiss demanded. "What did you two just come up with?"

Ruby just smiled, her silver eyes gazing out into the canyon as the Nevermore came back into view.

It didn't even know it was already dead.

* * *

_**RWBYRWBYRWBYRWBYMHAMHAMHAMHA**_

Partnered with a Schnee? Blake could safely say she hadn't seen that coming on her long road to redemption. Fate was funny that way. You go in expecting to train and become a righteous huntress out to root out the corruption and racism of the world, and you end up shackled to one of the personifications of those things.

She was exaggerating, of course. Weiss might have been an arrogant brat, but she was still only a teenage girl. Her father's countless acts of cruelty were not her fault. And she had readily put their earlier altercation in the school courtyard behind them (because she knew what aura was? What was that about?). Maybe there was hope that the two of them could survive each other after all.

Still, it was hard to look at the snowflake emblem on her jacket and not think of the scores of starving SDC mine workers the old White Fang had held food drives for up in Mantle. Children covered in soot, their parents lost to cave-ins, begging for cans to feed themselves. All while the shining city in the sky looked down on them all.

But that was neither here nor then. Right now, she and her partner's little impromptu team had a Nevermore to kill. And the crack of Ruby's sniper rifle signaled the beginning of their plan.

The red hooded girl knelt at the very peak of the temple; her scythe implanted in the stone to steady her gun. She fired shot after shot into the Nevermore, each high caliber dust round insufficient to break through the beast's hide.

But then, they weren't meant to. They just needed to keep the monster focused on her.

"I can't believe they came up with this madness," Weiss said, freezing the blade of Gambol Shroud into the other end of the valley. "There are a thousand ways this could go wrong."

Blake shrugged, pulling the high tensile ribbon of her weapon until it was taut across the chasm. "I've seen worse plans."

"And who came up with them? A dancing monkey?"

A raging bull more like, but that was a bit more insight into her past than she was willing to give. Besides, the next stage of the plan had begun.

The Nevermore closed in on Ruby, which meant it was wholly unprepared when sparks of emerald lightning flashed from lower on the hill.

"SMASH!"

Izuku went to work and half a dozen segments of the various stone pillars were kicked into the air, flying like cannonballs straight for the Grimm bird, each one with enough force to send it sprawling. Blake didn't know what the green-haired boy's semblance was, but the sheer strength it gave him access to was insane. She hadn't seen him in a one-on-one fight yet, but if his technique was as impressive as his physical ability, she didn't think anyone in the White Fang short of Adam would be able to beat him.

Unfortunately, he didn't seem to be too experienced kicking up solid stone (his biggest concern with the plan was that he wouldn't be able to keep from shattering the segments outright). The bombardment had power behind it, but their trajectories weren't aimed at the Grimm's center of mass. Four of the shots missed outright, and the two that hit merely clipped the creature's wing and talon. It was shaken, frantically flapping and dropping a good ten feet, but it was able to correct itself from spinning out and hover in place.

Leaving it a sitting duck. Metaphorically speaking, of course.

"You ready?" Blake asked.

Weiss smirked. "Am I?"

An impish smile spread across Blake's face. "Are you—"

"Of course I am!"

Ha! Too easy.

Blake held Gambol Shroud tight, keeping her eyes peeled on Izuku's falling shots. Weiss flicked her rapier up and unleashed precise blasts of fire and lightning. Each elemental attack struck the edges of the pillar fragments, maneuvering them right where the huntresses needed them to go.

Weiss stabbed Myrtenaster into Gambol Shroud's ribbon and half a dozen black gravity glyphs sprouted across the length of the cloth. The stone segments stuck to the cord like nails to a magnet, even as the fabric, with the strength of steel rope, bent downward. Just like Ruby had planned, the world's largest slingshot was locked and loaded.

The glyphs disappeared and the recoil launched the pillar fragments into the air. And unlike when Izuku had kicked them, they were aimed. One after another, the stones cylinders slammed into the Nevermore's underside. They couldn't penetrate the hide, but their sheer blunt force was enough to send the giant bird soaring into the sky.

Where Ruby was waiting, scythe blade at the ready. Just like Izuku had planned.

The red hooded girl blasted herself into the heavens and then burst downward on a stream of rose petals. At the same, a flash of emerald lightning rocketed up the columns of the temple and launched itself at the underside of the Nevermore's head.

"SMASH!"

Izuku's kick was the last thing needed to send the Grimm shooting into the heavens. And with Ruby falling at much the same pace, Crescent Rose had more than enough force to cleave right through the avian giant's neck. With a final shriek and one last wild storm of feathers, the Nevermore's head tumbled to the ground and its body burst into shadows.

"Why does he always scream 'Smash' when he attacks?" Weiss asked. "Isn't that just wasting breath he needs for com—AH!"

Blake's eyes widened as one of the errant feathers from the Grimm's last gasp smashed into her side of the valley. The ice fixture that had kept Gambol Shroud in place under the immense weight of the pillars shattered, while the edge of the canyon crumbled into dust right under Weiss. Her partner wailed as she fell through the open air.

Without thinking, the cat faunus wrapped her end of her weapon's ribbon around her hand and dove into the valley. Wind rushed past her face as she plummeted past the stone, reaching out her arm.

"Take my hand!" she roared, securing Weiss' gaze. "Now!"

The heiress' eyes were wide with fear, but she'd been well-trained and instantly clasped Blake's wrist in an iron-clad grip. Just in time, as Gambol Shroud's ribbon went taut and bungee jumped them both back to the clifftop. The cat faunus snagged onto the edge of the canyon. With one more great heave of strength, she threw her partner back onto solid ground. The dirt crumbled under her fingers from the strain and she began to fall, but Weiss quickly whirled around and summoned a white glyph beneath her feet. With the new purchase, Blake easily hopped back onto the cliff.

"You… you saved me," Weiss whispered, staring at her.

The cat faunus blinked numbly. She had, hadn't she? She, the daughter of Ghira Belladonna and former partner of Adam Taurus, had just saved Weiss Schnee's life. Well, if her former comrades weren't going to lynch her already…

But she found she didn't regret it. She couldn't regret it. She couldn't say she liked Weiss, but she was an innocent person. She didn't deserve to die, and a huntress didn't get to pick and choose who they saved. She did the right thing. Whether her new partner would have done the same for her if she knew who Blake's true identity and past was irrelevant.

And made it even more important that she never found out about them. Even though she suspected that a certain wolf-eared jackass already knew.

"It was nothing," she told Weiss, shooting her a small smile. "We're partners now. We watch each other's backs."

An innocent grin crossed Weiss' face, a light pink blush covering her cheeks. "Yes. I suppose we do."

The two of them looked over at the temple, where Ruby and Izuku stood atop the ruins. Surrounded by the decayed yet majestic ruins of an age long past, the two of them looked like twin demigods of scarlet and emerald, titanic heroes of an age long past.

"Hopefully we won't have to watch their backs as well," she said. "Izuku seems alright, but Ruby is a bit… reckless."

Blake chuckled. "The plan worked, didn't it?"

"Notice I didn't say incompetent," the heiress pointed out. "She is most certainly skilled enough to be here, but she's hardly tempered. Her luck and her allies won't always be able to counter her childishness."

"She's only two years younger than us."

"I'm not trying to demean her. In a few years, I'm sure she'll make a fine huntress. As long as she isn't given free reign."

* * *

_**RWBYRWBYRWBYRWBYMHAMHAMHAMHA**_

"Ruby Rose, Izuku Midoriya, Blake Belladonna, and Weiss Schnee. You retrieved the white rook pieces. From this day forth, you shall be known as Team RIBW, or Rainbow. Led by Ruby Rose!"

"What?!"

Izuku didn't know why Weiss was so surprised at the announcement, or why Ruby's own eyes were wide at her appointment. He nudged her with his elbow and shot her a reassuring smile, which soon blossomed into one of her own. His partner should have been proud. Her plan had gone off perfectly, unlike his own.

Well, not his additions to the Nevermore plan, those had gone wonderfully. But his actual plan, to end up on Kacchan's team, had completely fallen through.

Even as applause thundered throughout the auditorium, he couldn't keep his eyes from flickering towards the newly formed Team AYBN, or Auburn. Kacchan was still snarling at Jaune, evidently displeased that the other boy had beaten him out for team leader. It was supposed to be him on the receiving end of that hatred, slowly whittling down the walls in his classmate's memories until he remembered their actual strained relationship. But by the time he and Ruby had made it back to the relic ruins, the companion to Kacchan and Yang's white knight piece had already been taken, and since Ruby and Yang were perfectly satisfied being on different teams, he had no real excuse to request a trade, even if Ozpin could have fudged the rules to allow it.

He'd messed up, there was no getting around it. He had one job: get on Kacchan's team and integrate himself into his rival's daily life. But because he'd hadn't told Ruby that he'd known where the ruins were, she'd felt the need to help them get there by riding the Nevermore, which had cost them precious time, even if it had worked out in the end. The fact that he couldn't tell his partner what he knew had shot him in the foot.

He and his team started walking off the stage, the last presentation of the ceremony. But as they left, Ozpin caught his shoulder and leaned into his ear.

"Don't focus on what you've lost," he whispered, so soft Izuku barely heard him. "Focus on what you can still do."

Izuku didn't have time to ask for clarification before the headmaster stepped back into place, the interaction so quick that no one else would have noticed. Professor Goodwitch stepped up to the microphone and began directing everyone to the dorms. The green-haired boy kept pace with the rest of his team, pondering his ally's counsel.

Focus on what he could still do? It was sound advice. Like it or not, he hadn't gotten onto the same team as Kacchan. That didn't change his mission though. He couldn't wallow in self-pity. He needed to find a way to stay in contact with his rival. But how—

"Ruby!" Yang cheered, running up to her little sister and engulfing her in yet another hug. "Team leader! Oh, wait until I tell dad! And Uncle Qrow! They are going to be so proud! Oh, you're following in mom's footsteps already—"

"Yang! Air!"

A lightbulb went off in Izuku's head and a smile broke out over his face. He may have been an only child, but in every anime he'd ever watched and manga he'd ever read, siblings were either inseparable best friends or they wanted to kill each other for various convoluted reasons. And since he didn't think Yang's hug was secretly an attempt to suffocate Ruby for her magic nose hair, he was going to assume his partner and her sister had the former relationship. The sister, who was Kacchan's partner.

He had his way in. Family was a beautiful thing.

* * *

_**RWBYRWBYRWBYRWBYMHAMHAMHAMHA**_

Hei 'Junior' Xiong officially decided that family was a terrible thing. His had given him his nickname that had made it stupidly difficult to gain respect in the criminal underworld, and his righthand gals' had laid out his entire staff across his club and was currently holding a revolver to his head while leaning against his bar counter and drinking _his _alcohol. And not even the cheap stuff, the bitch had cracked open his best wine!

"Hmm, Mistralian Red," the black-haired girl mused, sniffing the top of her flute. "A good year too. You two really did pick an excellent meal ticket, didn't you?"

The targets of her words, Junior's lieutenants Miltia and Melanie, both shivered on the dance floor, their hands held out placatingly at the assailant.

"Momo," Melanie said softly. "Please. Put the gun down."

Junior's eyes widened, refocusing on the teenage girl holding his at gunpoint with new, proper fear. She looked older than he'd heard her to be, her proportions more 'mature' than most seventeen-year-olds, even the freshmen at Beacon who were famously more attractive than many moral guardians were comfortable with. Her feet were covered in sturdy combat boots, while the rest of her legs were bare save for black combat shorts that still looked stunning on her. Her upper body was clothed in a red shirt that could have been called skimpy, her creamy arms and midriff exposed. Only her chest was covered completely and even then, the responsible garment was… strained.

Normally, Junior would feel conflicted over taking in the attributes of a woman who was barely legal, but again, gun to his head. If he was going to be dead in a few seconds, he was least getting a pleasing last image.

Momo frowned at the girls and opened her palm, the pistol falling from her grip. Not what Junior had expected, but he wasn't one to let an opportunity got to waste.

He reached behind the bar counter and raised his bat, but before he could even begin to swing, a shot rang out and blasted his weapon out of his hand. His eyes zoomed back to his attacker, a completely new firearm _bursting out of her skin_ and straight into her hand. What the hell kind of semblance was that?!

Momo sighed. "Dropping my weapon doesn't really mean much when I can just spawn a new one with a thought." She glared at Junior. "And you're very lucky that I'm the only one here. My brother would not be so forgiving of a stunt like that."

Melanie and Miltia's eyes widened.

"He… he's here?" the red dress wearing twin murmured, terror saturating her voice.

"W…Where?" the other whispered.

"Out scouting. We need to know what everyone in this kingdom wants if we're to expand here," Momo explained, before glaring at the twins. "Some people haven't been doing their jobs and keeping Lil' Miss in the loop."

"Momo—"

"The condition of you two being allowed to stay in this kingdom was that you and your…" she scoffed at Junior. "…_ employer_ served as the Spiders' eyes and ears in Vale. Yet, we seem to be sorely lacking in recent intelligence just when we need to expand."

"Hey!" Junior protested. "I've been upholding my bargain with Lil' Miss to the letter!"

It had been five years ago when he'd found two girls starving on the streets. The little devils had actually tried to pickpocket him, and, when he'd caught them red-handed, put two of his boys in the hospital before they got taken down. He was always in the market for talent, but the Malachite twins had wormed their way into his black heart over the years, like the daughters he'd never had. Of course, then he'd learned whose daughters they actually were and he'd promptly shit his pants.

He was an information broker by trade and everyone in the underworld information game knew about Lil' Miss Malachite. The Spider Queen's web spanned all of Mistral, and she had at least a few footholds in the other kingdoms. To prevent her from storming into Vale to retrieve her wayward daughters, who made clear their preference not to go back, he agreed to become one of those footholds.

With the way one-half of the crime boss' top enforcers glared at him, he hadn't done it well enough.

"We haven't received any reports in weeks," Momo said. "Care to explain the discrepancy?"

"It's not his fault!" Miltia protested. "This blonde hussy stormed in here and blew the place to hell! It's taken weeks to get everything up and running again!"

Momo raised an eyebrow. "A huntress?"

Melanie cringed. "Not… exactly…"

The mobster glanced at the unconscious bodies of Junior's men she'd torn through and sighed. "I guess that's something we'll have to work on."

She lowered her gun and placed it in a holster she spawned from her hip. Junior breathed a gasp of relief. "Thank you."

"Don't thank me yet," the bombshell said. "We have a lot of work to do. If we're going to be the top dogs of this kingdom, we need to challenge the top dog."

"Um… yes?" Junior muttered, already disliking where this was going.

Momo motioned with her hand. "And who _is_ the top dog in this city?"

Yup. He did not like this.

"Roman Torchwick," Junior confessed. "Word is he's been running with the White Fang lately."

Momo cocked an eyebrow. "The gentleman thief is palling around with animals? Can't say I saw that coming."

Melanie chuckled awkwardly. "He rented a few of our guys for a job. He was dissatisfied."

"I can imagine," Momo said. "So what is this unholy alliance after?"

Junior scowled. "Dust. They've been stealing every scrap of dust in the kingdom."

"Dust?" Momo repeated. "Not exactly traditional, but brother and I have handled stranger things. I'm going to need a list of targets. This kingdom is about to have quite the shortage."

* * *

**Mob boss Momo. Fun times. Scary, but fun.**

**Also, huzzah! Got through initiation in one chapter! The arc is a joy to watch unfold onscreen, but my god is it dull to write on-page. Anyway, just as things often go for Izuku, his plan didn't work out exactly how he'd hoped. But, the future World's Greatest Hero isn't going to let a little thing like that stand in his way! He's got a job to do and he's going to do it PLUS ULTRA.**

**Oh, and people may notice that a certain best couple in RWBY is conspicuously absent from these proceedings. Rest assured, I have not forgotten about Ren and Nora. But the MHA gang have been on Remnant for seventeen years now and that has caused... ripples.**

**UPDATE: Thanks to the amazing Wilahelm2, this story now has a TVTROPES PAGE! If you're into that sort of thing, head on over and enjoy it!**

**An extra huge thank you to my patrons: Gregg Tracton, Annaya Chan, Keith Tracton, Nora Okonus, KefkaesqueXIII, Christian Howard, SanyaBane, Matthew Blevins, and David Wayman.**

**Thank you for Reading! I hope you enjoy what comes next!**

**Go Forth and Conquer!**


	4. Chapter 4

**So, VERY IMPORTANT NOTICE FOR THIS STORY!**

**Normally, I believe that retconning things in one's story is irresponsible, that if you wish an opportunity it is unfortunate, but an author has a responsibility to maintain the continuity you've given you readers without confusing them. That said, I recently had an idea for this story that I believe would be highly entertaining and increase its dramatic heft. So I have posted a poll on my profile and will let you all decide if you'd be alright with it.**

**The change I am talking about would be adding Jiro to the people who were snatched up by Salem's spell and reincarnated on Remnant. The retcons required for this would be minor at the moment, just fudging the number of students taken up from five to six and adding her into some of Izuku's thoughts, but I don't want to pull this out of left field on you guys. If you vote no on the poll, then the story will continue on as is. If you vote yes, I will edit in the minor retcons and it will continue on anyway, with Jiro's reincarnation to show up later. Either way, I hope you continue to enjoy this story.**

**Now, on with the chapter!**

**Beta-ed by xenosaiyan**

* * *

He hadn't been in Vale long, but he already hated the stupid kingdom. Back home, it rained nine months every year and was muggy the other three, but at least he could tell where the hell he was going! Every rundown village or settlement had the same layout, with one main street and a town square, simple and easy to navigate. Even the different rings of the capital weren't too hard to figure out the few times he'd been there, the poorest suckers stuck at the bottom of the mountain, markets and merchants in the middle, and the rich, the council, and Haven at the peak. But here in Vale, everything was just smashed together in one big hodgepodge of a city that made no sense! It was ridiculous! How was he supposed to clear the level if the map didn't make any sense!

No, no, no, throwing a tantrum wouldn't help. Just like his sister always said, he had to keep calm if he wanted to finish the job. And he was perfectly aware just how important his current mission was. He wouldn't fail her.

Eventually, he'd finally given up trying to make sense of the CCT navigation on his scroll and just asked some old shopkeeper where his destination was. The elderly man was busy sweeping up glass in front of his decimated dust store, but he'd still taken the time to show him the way. He'd have to remember that, ask his sister if they could give the senior citizen a discount on protection once they were in charge of the stupid kingdom.

But that was a matter for another time. Now, he had arrived at his destination, the homely store situated at the edge of an alley with the golden letters TBT emblazoned across its windows.

He went inside, noted from the sizable shelves of books that he was in the right dungeon, and strode up to the front desk. He smacked the bell atop the counter, smirking just a bit as the satisfying _ding_ chimed through the shop.

"Coming!" a deep voice called out, its owner, a bulky dark-haired man with biceps the size of bowling balls, soon emerging from the shadowed back room. The man glanced around the store for a moment before his eyes landed on him. It wasn't surprising. A lanky, slouching teen in a black hoody like him would hardly stand out normally and the shop was quite dark. Honestly, it was more surprising that he'd been spotted so quickly.

"You the owner?" he inquired. "Tukson?"

The towering man flashed him a friendly smile. "That's me. How can I help you?"

He smirked, reaching into his hoody's pocket. Finally, he'd found the right place. Now, to clear the level.

"I've heard a lot about you, Tukson," he said, his voice raspy from his dry throat. "Everyone I talk to about what I'm looking for since I got to this shitty kingdom always says the same thing. Go to Tukson's Book Trade, home to every book under the sun. He'll have what you're looking for."

"Um, yeah. Glad I've got good word of mouth," Tukson replied, the friendly face giving way to a warier stare, his hands clutching towards his body. "What exactly are you looking for?"

"Something very important."

He whipped his hand out of his pocket and slammed the item it held onto the counter. Tukson hopped back, dropping into a combat stance of all things.

Weird. Someone in his family must have had huntsman training. Or maybe military. Eh, who cared?

"Alright," he said, leaning over the counter to examine the list he'd produced from his hoody, his gray wool gloves with a fingerless thumb pinning the paper to the wood. "_The Thief and the Butcher_?"

Tukson blinked numbly, his clenched fists loosening. "Wha—what?"

"_The Thief and the Butcher_? Do you have it?"

"The book?"

"Yes, the book! This is a bookstore, isn't it?" he moaned. "My sister's birthday is coming up and the big-name stores never have what she wants! Now come on, please, do you have _The Thief and the Butcher_? Preferably in first edition?"

Tukson, finally realizing that he had a paying customer in front of him instead of whatever he thought was going on, let out a sigh of relief, his friendly smile back on his face. "You're in luck. I've got some suppliers that Nobles & Barnes don't know about. I've got a few copies in the back."

"Perfect! Thank you!" he grinned. "What about _Third Crusade_?"

"Oh," the large man winced. "No, unfortunately. We don't have that one."

"You don't have a first edition, or you don't have it at all?"

"At all."

"Damn it!" he moaned, his face falling into the palm of his hand. "Why does no one have this book?!" Seriously, he looked all over Anima for this dumb thing and it wasn't _anywhere_! Did it ever even get published? How did his sister even find out about it?

Tukson flinched. "I mean, we don't have it _now_. But I can check with my suppliers—"

"Really?" he said. "Thank you! She has been looking for this stupid book for ages and if I can get it for her it'll be the best birthday ever and I'll be the best brother ever!"

"Um, sure," Tukson replied. "Glad to help. So, do you still want _The Thief and the Butcher_?"

"Oh yeah, totally. She loves first editions."

"Great. I'll bag it for you and ring you right up. I should get back to you on _Third Crusade_ in a couple months."

He grinned and nodded his thanks. With Grimm prowling outside the kingdoms and without the resources of a government or a big corporation, a few months was pretty good time if he had to order it in. Plus, if he was lucky, it'd be right on time for the occasion.

"Here we go. That'll be fifty lien."

"What?! How can it be that much? It's ink and paper!"

"First edition. It's decades-old ink and paper."

He grumbled and went shuffling through his pockets for his wallet. "My comics never cost this much. It's freaking highway robbery, I tell you." As a part-time highway robber, he felt sure in saying so.

But… it wasn't like his sister wasn't worth it. Darn it, he was skimming Junior's cut for this.

* * *

_**RWBYRWBYRWBYRWBYMHAMHAMHAMHA**_

Alright, the first day of Beacon. An all-new day to train his skills and jog Kacchan's memories so he wasn't lost to the abyss between dimensions when he died. And the first step in doing that was making breakfast!

Izuku had never been much of a morning person, but with the stakes as high as they were, he would push through the grogginess. He'd gotten up bright and early, while the rest of his team was still fast asleep (he was sharing a room with three _girls_!), and snuck out of the room in his pajamas.

He had been living at Beacon since he'd arrived on Remnant, so he knew about certain things that the others would find out later. Such as that while there was a cafeteria where meals were provided, each floor of the dorms was also equipped with a communal fridge and kitchenette. Normally, they would be empty at the start of the year, but, again, he'd been living there for a week. He'd surprise his team by making breakfast for them and, wanting to befriend his new partner and team leader, he'd do the same for her sister and her team. And if that made Kacchan at the very least tolerate him, that would be a crucial first step in making up for lost time—

"What the hell are you doing here, Broccoli Hair?"

Izuku froze as soon as he entered the kitchenette, his wolf-eared target seated at a table, a bun filled with yellow curry (probably spicy knowing him) and some kind of fish half-eaten in his grip. His red eyes were glaring straight at him.

"Oh, hey, Kacchan—"

"Katsuki!"

"Right, sorry, force of habit."

"What fucking habit?!"

"Long story," Izuku deflected. "So, what are you doing up so early?"

Kacchan scowled and held up his bun. "What does it look like? And I asked you first!"

"Oh, I've got some stuff in the fridge, so I figured I'd surprise our teams with some breakfast. You know, start off the first day nice," Izuku explained. "But I guess you've already eaten."

The wolf faunus growled and returned to devouring his bun. "You want to waste your time making food for everyone when the cafeteria will be open, go right ahead."

"But you're not eating at the cafeteria either?"

"That's because the person who made these is a better cook than any third-rate hacks this place's hired! And a million times better than you!"

A bead of sweat dripped down Izuku's face. "Ri… right."

So much for that plan. Oh well. He was here, so he might as well still make everyone else breakfast. And if Kacchan was here as well, he could talk to him while he cooked, try to figure exactly what the similarities and differences were between the hothead he knew and the one that had been reborn on Remnant. Besides the wolf ears obviously. Everything he knew was a step closer to making his classmate remember everything _he _knew.

He shuffled over to the fridge and started removing the pork, rice, vegetables, eggs, and everything else he'd need, placing it all on the counter next to the stove before he'd started removing the pots and pans for the job. "So, curry and fish? Sounds delicious."

"You can't have any."

"That's fine." Since their moms were best friends, he'd been over to the Bakugos' for dinner before. He'd gotten used to the ridiculously spicy curry, but he couldn't say he enjoyed it. Or that anyone else would survive it. "I prefer Katsudon myself. My mom makes—made a really good bowl. Always made me feel better after a long day or when I was away from home. Maybe it'll help everyone else feel more at home here."

Kacchan scoffed. "A bit of food isn't going to make people forget where they are."

Izuku flinched for a moment, pausing just after he lit the flame under his pan. It was a small thing and he couldn't have known what the words would mean, but his rival's remark cut deep into the green-haired boy's mind. After all, his mom wasn't a phone call away anymore, and she wouldn't be sending him any care packages filled with Takoyaki. No matter how much of his favorite food he ate, he couldn't forget that.

But, he couldn't linger on it either. His mission, saving his friends, that came first.

"Maybe, but the intent might help all the same," he proposed. "I mean, the person who made your bun must be important to you. Was it one of your parents—"

"What the hell do you want with me?!" Kacchan roared. He slammed his palms on the table and whirled on Izuku, his teeth barred and his eyes ablaze. "You wouldn't stop staring at me in the ballroom! You tracked me down in the locker room! And then you tried to follow me when we were thrown off the cliff! What are you after, you vegetable bastard?!"

"Want? I don't know what you mean! I don't really want anything from you, besides to be your friend, I guess," Izuku said, plastering on the best smile he could. "You seem like a nice guy."

"No, I don't."

"No, you don't," Izuku sighed.

What was he supposed to say? If Kacchan really had noticed his attempts to partner with him, denying it outright would just make him seem more suspicious, maybe even a stalker. But he couldn't very well tell him the real reason, he'd think he was insane. He needed to remind his rival about their shared past, but making it so he would avoid him like the plague wouldn't help. Initiation was proof of that.

Wait, maybe that was it! He wanted to spark Bakugo's memories, but if his best chance was getting close to him… they hadn't really been friends since preschool. But what they were now, what they'd finally managed to evolve into was…

Rivals.

Katsuki would see through any lie he tried to feed him. So, a fraction of the truth would have to do.

"But you are incredible," Izuku proclaimed, his eyes hardening at the wolf faunus. "Maybe it was just a feeling, but no one would just yell at Weiss Schnee so casually like you did in the ballroom. And after I learned your semblance, I knew I was right. I wanted you to be my partner."

Kacchan's eyes narrowed. "Why? You seem perfectly happy with Moon Eyes."

"Ruby's amazing," Izuku clarified, there was no way he would say anything but the truth on that count. "But something tells me she won't push me like you would. To her, being here is a dream come true. For you, it's another mountain to climb. You crave victory, and you'll push yourself past any limit, break yourself, to get it."

The wolf faunus kept glaring at him for a moment before scoffing. He turned around and snatched up his breakfast, stomping back towards the dorms. "You think you know me after a day? You're a cocky little shit, aren't you."

"The only person you called by their name yesterday was Pyrrha!" Izuku called, Katsuki pausing in the middle of his exit. "That's because she's the only one you think is worth remembering, the only one who can give you a worthwhile challenge. That's what I see in you. An image of victory that I can push myself against, someone who will help me become stronger just by constantly trying to surpass them. And whether we're on the same team or not, I'm not going to give up on that. Before long, you will remember my name."

For a moment, the wolf faunus was still. A dream flickered through Izuku's mind, a brief hope that just maybe his speech had been enough to trigger his classmate's buried consciousness, that this stage of his epic quest might be over with just a few well-placed words. Maybe the next words out of Kacchan's mouth would be—

"You're a crappy liar, _Broccoli Hair_."

Just like that, Izuku's fantasy vanished as soon as it had appeared.

And yet, his hope was not completely cast aside. Because even as Katsuki spoke those words, a bead of sweat dribbled down his face, his head shaking as if trying to dislodge a cobweb. The memories from Earth were there, he felt them. Izuku just needed to keep hitting until he shook them loose.

But that would have to wait for another time. Kacchan mounted his head straight on his neck and clenched his fists. "You want to take a shot at me, feel free. Just don't complain when I crush you into the dirt."

With that, he marched out of the room.

Izuku's eyes never left his back, his own hands closing tight. He had an opening, and Ruby and Yang's relationship would give him the excuse to keep hammering it. His mission wasn't impossible. He could do this. Soon enough, Kacchan would know his name was worth remembering. And he would remember it.

The name of a hero.

"And lower the temperature of your pan, dumbass! You're gonna warp the damn thing!"

"Oh, right!"

Izuku whipped back around to the stove, lowering his pan's flame and getting the rest of his ingredients set up. There was more to being a hero than flashy interdimensional rescue missions after all. Sometimes to help people, you just needed to give them good food. Whatever worries the others had, breakfast would be sure to calm them down.

* * *

_**RWBYRWBYRWBYRWBYMHAMHAMHAMHA**_

"Oh my gosh you guys, Izuku's gone! He didn't tell me where he was going, did he tell you guys where he was going, did he drop out, why would he drop out, he just got into Beacon!? Ah! Did a Grimm break in and kill him-"

"Would you please be quiet?" Weiss demanded, clutching a hand to her ruffled bedhead. It was far, far too early in the morning for this.

Their _esteemed _team leader had seen fit to wake both her and her partner up at the crack of dawn with a whistle, in a complete panic about their fourth member's absence from the room. And while she did admit such was a matter for some concern, considering the circumstances, it was hardly cause for this level of alarm. But then why should she expect anything more from a child?

She took a deep breath. No, no, she should control herself. Yes, she had been denied her first step in following in Winter's footsteps and becoming an esteemed and respected huntress. Yes, she had been overlooked for team leader in favor of this silver-eyed chipmunk with a scythe. But Professor Ozpin was perhaps the most acclaimed huntsman on Remnant. He must have known something, seen _something _in Ruby, that made her the superior… the more practical choice for leader.

The sleeveless pajama-wearing tomboy had shown some glimmers of potential during the battle with the Nevermore. Obviously, it would not be long before the cause for her appointment, _whatever _it was, made itself apparent. Until then…

Weiss jammed a finger towards Izuku's bed, where his scant belongings (which actually appeared to be just books and school supplies now that she thought about it. Did he not bring anything from home?) rested at the foot of the wooden supports. "His stuff is still here. He did not drop out. Wherever he's gone, it is obviously temporary."

"But what if—"

"No Grimm is going to be able to break into the middle of a huntsman academy!"

Blake, clothed in a tasteful black kimono, rubbed the dark bags under her eyes. "It does seem unlikely."

Ruby finally stopped squealing, taking several deep breaths and crashing onto her bed. "You're right. You're right. He's probably fine. Absolutely nothing bad could happen to him before the first day even starts—"

The door to the room cracked open and all conversation immediately ceased as an utterly _exquisite _smell wafted into the room. All three girls' eyes turned to the entrance just in time to witness their fourth teammate return carrying a tray of steaming bowls.

"Izuku!" Ruby cheered, rushing over to her partner. "You're alright!"

"Where were you?" Weiss inquired, marching up to a far more respectable distance.

"And what is that…" Blake sniffed the air, her head shaken so much that even her bow twitched. "… delicious smell?" She was the only one to stay back.

"Oh…" Izuku stuttered, his cheeks red as his eyes flickered between Weiss and Ruby, (in hindsight, they may have been pressing a bit close) desperately trying to avert his gaze. "I… uh…"

"For goodness' sake," Weiss muttered. "Speak in full sentences! Or at least words!"

"Did the Grimm tear out your vocal cords?"

"What?" Izuku gasped, finally able to look at them properly. "Grimm? No, I just woke up a bit early. I couldn't go back to sleep, so I figured I'd make everybody breakfast." He raised up his tray, the contents of the steaming bowls looking even more enticing.

Ruby squealed and snatched up one of the bowls and accompanying utensils, bursting back to her bed and digging into the meal like a savage. Weiss sighed and nodded at the boy, grabbing a bowl and fork for herself. She was accustomed to the finest cuisine in the four kingdoms, expertly crafted by Klein and her cake butler. She appreciated the thought behind Izuku's gesture, and it was good that he was attempting to be productive with the extra time he'd accidentally gained, but she doubted it would provide anything beyond base nourishment. Of course, given Winter had informed her more than once about the abysmal field rations she'd had to make do with at school, so she probably shouldn't be too harsh on her new teammate. She would do her best to give him fair and honest critique. Maybe one day, with her guidance, he could become almost as skilled as Klein.

She made her way back to her bed and daintily lifted a portion of the hot meat, rice, and vegetables to her mouth. As soon as the food touched her tongue, her eyes widened. "This is… quite good."

"Are you kidding? It's great!" Ruby exclaimed, half a bite still in her mouth. "Are you some kind of super-chef?"

"Heh, no, I'm not that great a cook. I mean I _can _cook, but I'm not a super-chef," Izuku confessed, he and Blake taking a seat on their beds with their portions. "Katsudon is just my favorite dish, so I've gotten pretty good at making it."

"Hm, indeed," Blake noted, lifting a bit of hers. Unlike Weiss and Ruby's forks, Blake and Izuku had chosen a pair of thin wooden sticks as their utensils. The heiress recalled seeing them a few times in high-class Mistralian restaurants, but she'd never learned how to use them. Her father had always made clear, a Schnee did not conform to another kingdom's ridiculous customs. They made it clear that it was in the kingdom's best interest to accommodate the SDC.

Weiss bristled at the memory. Maybe she could ask her partner to teach her how to use them some other time.

"So, Katsudon? That's Mistralian, correct?" she said. "I didn't realize you were from Mistral, Izuku."

"Huh? Oh yeah. I mean, my parents were," Izuku replied, his smile just a bit awkward. "My name is actually old Mistralian for 'green valley'."

"Really? Cool!" Ruby said, her tongue lapping up a fleck of rice that had _somehow _gotten stuck on her nose. "I was kind of wondering why it didn't seem to follow the color rule."

"Not every name does. The rule is popular, but not everyone in the world can be bothered with such a tradition. Professor Ozpin's name doesn't fit," Blake pointed out. She nibbled on a chunk of pork before sighing. Weiss could have sworn she muttered, "If only it were fish."

"Oh sorry," Izuku said, evidently having heard as well. "I can add some fish next time if you'd like."

"No, it's okay. It's quite good."

"Oh. Alright."

"So why Beacon?" Weiss inquired. She might as well use this time to get to know her teammates a little better. After all, they couldn't all be as bad as the blond imbecile across the hall.

Izuku raised an eyebrow. "What do you mean?"

"Because Beacon's the best!" Ruby proclaimed. "I mean, you're from Atlas, aren't you, Weiss? Why did you come to Beacon?"

The heiress scowled. "Personal reasons."

"That's not very descriptive."

"They're personal reasons! I keep them to myself."

"By that logic, Izuku doesn't have to tell you why he came either," Blake said, her own partner stabbing her in the back.

"Wait, what?" the green-haired boy exclaimed.

Weiss huffed and crossed her arms in front of her. "He doesn't _have _to tell me. I just thought to ask in case he was alright with doing so, it would be an opportunity to get to know each other a little better."

"No! No, I have no problem telling you guys why I came to Beacon! It's not personal at all!" Izuku scrambled. "My parents moved to Vale before I was born. We moved from settlement to settlement, trying to keep ahead of the Grimm. Eventually, we weren't fast enough. I was the only survivor."

He took in a big gulp of air, trying to reclaim the air he'd expended. After that, he shot his team a shaky, clearly unsure, smile.

An expression that was completely at odds with the wide eyes and gaping jaws the trio of girls were aiming towards him.

The green-haired boy blinked. "What?"

"What do you mean 'what'?" Weiss squealed. "That was completely personal! You didn't have to feel pressured to tell us if you weren't comfortable!"

"That does seem a bit much to tell people after knowing them for a day," Blake remarked.

"Oh," Izuku said, once again rubbing the back of his head. "I guess I'm just really comfortable around you guys."

A burst of rose petals and a blast of wind tossed Weiss' hair in front of her eyes. When she'd cleared them, Ruby had leapt into her partner's arms and enclosed him in a tight embrace.

"Oh, Izuku!" their team leader sobbed. "I'm so sorry!"

"Uh, no, don't worry, it's fine, Ruby," Izuku stammered, desperately trying to balance his Katsudon bowl while keeping his partner from tipping over. "It was a long time ago. You guys are fine."

Ruby pulled back, no tears coming down her face. Instead, she pulled back and gazed upon her partner with… not pity but… understanding? Almost maturity. Weiss wasn't quite sure what was glimmering in those silver eyes, but it wasn't just childish wallowing. Could it be a hint of that special quality that made the headmaster name her leader?

But then she'd rushed back in and tightened her grip around Izuku, unable to notice that by squeezing his arms, she had dislodged his hold on his breakfast. Weiss sighed, any rising opinion instantly lost.

The heiress reached out her hand and caught the Katsudon with a glyph before it could spill all over the floor. She growled, finally causing her team leader to glance over and notice she'd nearly ruined her partner's meal with her impulsive embrace. The child gave a sheepish grin and extradited herself back to her bed, allowing the Schnee to return Izuku's food.

However, the green-haired boy didn't seem to have any interest in his meal, his eyes widening as he leaned over her glyph. "Woah! This is your semblance, right? I only saw it a bit yesterday, but this! It held the tension of the slingshot with preparation, but instantly arresting an object's movement would require incredibly precise timing. Doing it all in a moment… you're amazing, Weiss!"

Oh… that was… positive reinforcement. From someone other than Winter or Klein. Who had in only a few seconds deduced just how careful she had to be in using her glyphs properly and didn't assume that just because she'd inherited her family's immensely powerful semblance everything was easy for her.

This was… new.

"I… of course, I am," she preened, her cheeks tinted with just a hint of red. "I am going to become a huntress that will bring honor to the Schnee name. I have trained my skills to the utmost in preparation for this sacred duty."

Blake cocked an eyebrow. "You literally just caught a bowl."

Weiss glared at her partner for a moment before coughing into her hand to reorient herself. She sat up straight and returned her gaze to Izuku. "I must admit, you also showed significant skill yesterday. And while I am sorry for your loss, the fact that you acquired first-rate huntsman equipment and earned your way into such a prestigious institution without a parent's support speaks well of your determination." She shot her teammate a respectful nod. "I look forward to working as your teammate."

"Oh! You too!" Izuku replied, giving her a polite bow.

"What do you mean first-rate huntsman gear?" Ruby queried. "His boots don't even have guns! We need to fix that!"

Weiss groaned, scooping another forkful of Katsudon into her mouth to keep from doing anything worse. No, Professor Ozpin might have been a wise and respectable huntsman, but there was no way he could have seen anything within this ridiculous child that made her more worthy of the leadership position than the Schnee Heiress. Her gambit against the Nevermore might have paid off, but that didn't change the fact that she was a reckless, immature, hyperactive… _child_!

It was madness. Sheer madness. To be cast aside and not even for someone she could stand to follow. If she was to be passed over, she wished it would have at least been for someone worthy of the position in their own way. Someone who had struggled and worked themselves to the bone as furiously as she had to make their way. Like Pyrrha or… well… like Izuku, she supposed.

Hm. She supposed it could be worse. She could be under the command of that buffoon who hadn't even known what aura was.

* * *

_**RWBYRWBYRWBYRWBYMHAMHAMHAMHA**_

"Oh, you made breakfast for us? Thanks, Katsuki—"

"Shut up, Noodle! I didn't make any of you jackshit. That was all Broccoli Hair."

Yang rolled her eyes, running a towel through her wet hair as she strode out of the bathroom. "Why am I not surprised? Did he not make one for you?"

Katsuki growled and glanced away. "Bastard would have if I hadn't eaten first."

Pyrrha raised an eyebrow. "He's a… that, because he was going to make you breakfast?"

"Of course!"

Yang rolled her eyes. "You know, there was a small part of me that held out hope that yesterday was just initiation nerves getting to you. But no, your personality really is just flaming crap mixed with garbage, isn't it?"

"What did you say, Poufy Hair!?"

"You heard what I said, Sparky!"

"Stop calling me that!"

"You first!"

"Okay, okay!" Jaune cut in, both his fellow blondes whirling on him. Pyrrha wisely inched in front of her partner, who nodded his thanks. "Look, yesterday was pretty stressful for all of us. But let's look on the bright side. We're all in Beacon, we're not Grimm food, and we've even got some piping hot breakfast."

Katsuki scoffed. "Made by a hack."

Yang smirked. "You're just mad you didn't get any. You know, Izuku's pretty nice. If you went over and asked, I'm sure he'd make you some."

Strangely, the wolf faunus didn't break out into another rant at her prodding. Instead, his brow furrowed, making him look almost pensive. He turned around and marched over to the bathroom, slamming the door behind him. Within a few moments, they heard a call of "Die germs!" from within.

Yang sighed, throwing down the towel around her chest and getting into her uniform. Well, she couldn't claim he did anything halfway. At least he hadn't complained about how much time she'd spent in the bathroom. He might have been the first up, but her hair was a bonafide national treasure and it required exquisite care. Sparky would just have to get used to that, just like she would have to get used to him being a rabid dog.

Shoot, was that racist? That was too mean. Hm… she would have to get used to him being a sack of flaming shit. Yeah, that was it.

She finished pulling up the skirt of her school uniform, bemused to find Jaune turned around with his hands covering his eyes. "All clear, Vomit Boy. Surprised you didn't try to sneak a peek."

"I grew up with seven sisters. I'm not that stupid," he replied. He turned around and snatched up a bowl of Katsudon. He plopped down on his bed and started gobbling up the Mistralian dish atop his baby blue onesie. "Ah man, breakfast in bed! Best first day of school ever!"

Yang chuckled and grabbed a bowl for herself, scooping a forkful of the warm meat and egg into her mouth. "Oh yes. Green Bean can cook. How about you, Pyrrha? You're the only one of us that's actually from Mistral. How's it stack up to the real deal?"

"Oh, I actually haven't had Katsudon that often," Pyrrha confessed, though she was using the chopsticks to eat. "It's more popular in the capital than where I'm from."

"Which is?" Yang gently inquired. She'd already seen her team in action, but aside from that, she didn't really know much about them as people. It'd be great to get to know the ones that wouldn't bite her head off for asking.

"Oh, Argus. It's a port city on the northern coast," Pyrrha said, a smile brightening her face. "My mother is the archivist for Sanctum Academy there."

"Sweet," Yang grinned. "I'm from Patch, born and raised. My dad teaches at Signal there, and I still graduated top of my class."

Jaune cocked an eyebrow, a loose bit of green onion sticking to his chin. "Why would your dad being your teacher make it harder for you to graduate?"

"He doesn't want to be accused of favoritism. Or at least, that's what he says," Yang parroted. "Pretty sure he just wants to make sure his 'little firecracker' can take care of herself."

There was the whole bit about her mom dying while away on a mission, and the spiral of depression he fell into before Uncle Qrow knocked some sense into him, but that was a tad too personal for her to share right off the bat.

"But it paid off," she continued with a grin, jutting her thumb towards herself. "Because this girl got first place on the practical exam!"

"Really? That's awesome!" Jaune said, picking the green onion off his chin. "But, uh, what practical exam?"

Yang raised an eyebrow. "The practical exam to get into the school."

"That thing we did yesterday? We got scored on that?"

"No, no, that was initiation," Pyrrha explained. "The practical exam is a combat test that regular prospective students have to take to get admitted for initiation. Students that are admitted via recommendation or other special circumstances are exempt."

"Oh. That makes sense."

"Wait," Yang said. "Jaune, did you get in on recommendation?"

Her team leader chuckled nervously, shoving more Katsudon into his mouth. "I mean, I guess. I just submitted my transcript and they let me in. How about you, Pyrrha? Regular admission or some other completely legal means?"

Pyrrha flinched. "Recommendations. Some of the huntsmen who trained me are close with Professor Lionheart, the headmaster of Haven. They expected me to go there, but when I told them I wanted to come to Beacon, they were still able to get him to pass on a good word to Professor Ozpin for me."

"Nice," Yang nodded. She glanced back to the bathroom, the shouts inside still unabated. "So, anyone want to take any bets about how mister personality got in?"

"It's got to be recommendations," Jaune proposed. "You saw him yesterday. He's a badass."

"And an asshole," Yang reminded him. "Though, I don't remember seeing him on the list of the practical's results."

Pyrrha tilted her head. "That doesn't seem like something they would publish."

"Oh, it isn't," Yang grinned, pulling out her scroll. "But, you're not the only one with connections. My Uncle Qrow is tight with Ozpin, so he was able to get it for me to see how well I did. And I nailed it."

She flicked through the screen, passing by her top-ranked score, and Weiss and Blake's stellar marks (Wasn't Weiss filthy rich? Why didn't she use her connections to get in through recommendations?). But no Katsuki Bell.

"Huh, perfect score. Guess you're not completely useless after all, Poufy Hair."

"What the—" Yang whirled around, eyes widening when she spotted her partner leaning over her shoulder. "When did you get out of the bathroom?"

Katsuki snarled, his spiky hair still dripping water onto the towel wrapped around his neck. "Just now. Unlike you, I don't take forever to get ready. Also, Nikos, it's your turn."

"Oh, wonderful."

The redheaded champion quickly scampered off into the bathroom, while Jaune scooted as far down his bed as possible. Understandable, given that Yang and Katsuki were glaring daggers at each other, the former's hair flickering with flames and the latter's palms peppering with sparks.

"So, Katsuki," Jaune muttered, setting his bowl of Katsudon on the bedside table. "Did you hear what we were talking about?"

"You want to know how I got into this place," Katsuki said. "Nothing much to it. The headmaster wanted to reach out to Menagerie, so he set up a Scholarship Tournament with Ghira Belladonna. I won."

"Oh, congratulations," Jaune replied, hefting two nervous thumbs up.

Katsuki didn't respond, keeping his eyes on Yang. More specifically, on her scroll.

"That thing's got the score of everyone who took the practical exam?" he inquired. "Where's Broccoli Hair on it?"

"Izuku?" Yang said. "Why do you want to know?"

Katsuki's eyes narrowed. "He's hiding something. His words… they aren't completely at odds with his eyes, but they aren't what they should be."

"You think _Izuku_ is hiding something?" Yang parroted. "The same guy that made everybody breakfast in bed?"

"He does seem to be pretty on the level," Jaune noted.

"You've known him for a day and suddenly you're his groupies," Katsuki shouted. "He's lying about something and I aim to find out what!"

Yang rolled her eyes. "Look, Ozpin invited Izuku here the same night he did Ruby. He didn't take the practical any more than she did."

"Did he tell you that?"

"Well… yeah."

"Then check your damn list!"

"Ugh! Fine, if it'll shut you up!" Yang retorted. She scrolled down the list, ready to prove her ass of a partner wrong when… "What?"

Izuku's name was on the list. In the dead center of the list, just a bit above the average passing score.

Jaune scuttled over to get a look at the scroll while Katsuki's knuckles closed into fists. "Told you."

Yang passed the scroll to Jaune and hopped to her feet. She crossed her arms over her chest and glared at her partner. "This doesn't prove that Izuku lied. Like I said, Ozpin knows my uncle, and he taught Ruby how to fight. He probably knew she could handle Beacon but had Izuku take the practical to make sure he could do it."

"Please," Katsuki snorted. "Even if that was the case, you saw him fight yesterday. You really think that he would have gotten an average score if he'd actually taken it?"

"People have off days."

"Not on a day that important."

"So what? You're saying he snuck into the academy somehow?"

"Okay, that's enough! It is way too early in the morning for this!" Jaune shouted. He stepped between the partners and returned Yang's scroll to her. "We can worry about wild conspiracy theories about people 'sneaking in' later. Classes start at… um…"

"Nine," Katsuki growled.

"Nine, right. And we've got a lot to sort out before then. So, just… table this."

Katsuki scoffed and made for the dresser he'd stuffed his clothes in the night before. "Don't give me orders, Noodle."

Jaune cringed, but there were no explosions. Probably the best he could hope for. Their team leader sighed and went back to his breakfast, his smile completely gone.

As for Yang, she kept her eyes glued to the list, Izuku's score staring back at her. Katsuki was a jerk, but he wasn't wrong. The huntsman-in-training she had seen in the Emerald Forest had been way above average, equal to her at the very least. If what Ruby had told her about the battle with the Nevermore was true, she might even need to bust out her semblance if she and the green-haired boy ever came to blows. So why was his practical score so low? Why did he even have a practical score if he was invited to come early like Ruby was? He didn't sneak in, the headmaster was obviously aware of who he was if he'd met with him that night at the police station.

Maybe… maybe Izuku had asked Ozpin to put in a fake score for him? He was a pretty awkward guy, in an endearing sort of way. Maybe he was like Ruby, and didn't want anyone to think he was special? That it'd be easier to make friends that way? No, that was way too convoluted. Besides, the practical's score was only seen by the faculty, not students. She only had a copy because of Uncle Qrow.

So, what was going on here? Izuku seemed like a nice guy, but he was Ruby's partner. For the next four years, he'd be guarding her back, even when Yang wasn't there. She couldn't be careless and leave a dagger there by mistake.

That said, she really hoped this was just the early morning grogginess and a pain in the ass partner making her paranoid. Because she liked Izuku. He had made everybody breakfast and didn't hold it against Ruby that she'd mistaken him for a criminal and tried to chop him in half. If he didn't have some dark secret, and really was as good as he seemed, she was sure he'd be able to help Ruby thrive in Beacon.

* * *

_**RWBYRWBYRWBYRWBYMHAMHAMHAMHA**_

Izuku was really worried about Ruby's chances at Beacon.

His partner was an amazing fighter, but she'd gotten so caught up in decorating their room (only his lack of personal belongings allowed them to fit all their beds in the space without cannibalizing them for bunk beds), that she hadn't been paying any attention to the time. If he hadn't pointed out that it was eight-forty-five when he did, they might have had to rush to their first class. Mr. Aizawa would have had their heads if they'd scrambled in at the last second on the first day!

Fortunately, Professor Port was far more outwardly affable than Eraserhead. Why hadn't Ozpin told him that the author of the Poledark Byron novellas was one of his teachers? They were his favorite of all the books he'd been given to acclimate to Remnant! And his classroom was decorated in Grimm trophies and diagrams of the various monsters! How cool was that?

"Monsters! Demons! Prowlers of the night! Yes, the creatures of Grimm have many names!" the man himself announced, just as inspiring in person as he'd been in prose. "But I merely refer to them as _prey_! Haha!"

So cool!

The lecture began soon after, detailing an encounter from the huntsman's younger days when he'd outsmarted and outmaneuvered an entire pack of Beowolves with nothing but a rope and a jar of week-old honey. It was absolutely thrilling stuff, Izuku couldn't keep the grin off his face as he jotted everything down.

But he also had a habit of observing others and so he was able to catch what the rest of his friends were doing. Kacchan and Pyrrha were dutifully taking notes, though for some reason they weren't as engrossed by the story as he was. Jaune had his pencils out, but his eyes were drooping while Yang was staring at him for some reason. His own team, however, was far more concerning. Blake was ignoring the professor entirely to read a book and she was the least troubling.

Ruby seemed to be doing everything she could to disrespect the lecture. She doodled a caricature of the professor over her notepaper and giggled about it with her sister (the only time Yang looked away from him). She balanced an apple on top of her binder which in turn she balanced on top of a pencil. She dozed off constantly and when she didn't, she continued goofing off. If she'd been in Mr. Aizawa's class, he would have shipped her off to detention in a second. Izuku could understand preferring the practical applications of their work to the theoretical, but both parts were crucial to hero work, as he was sure they were to huntsmen work. Neglecting one to the detriment of the other could land her in serious trouble.

And her actions, while they had not yet drawn Professor Port's attention, had not gone unnoticed. Weiss, who had been dutifully taking down the lecture word for word (which was amazing, even he couldn't write fast enough to do that), had started glaring at Ruby barely a quarter of the way through class. With every zany act, the kind that not even Mina would dare try in class, the Schnee heiress' gaze grew colder and colder, until at last her grip grew so tight that her pencil snapped in two.

"In the end, the Beowolf was no match for my sheer tenacity, and I returned to my village with the beast in captivity and my head held high, celebrated as a hero!" Professor Port announced, taking a short bow. "The moral of this story? A true huntsman must be honorable! A true huntsman must be dependable! A true huntsman must be strategic, well-educated, and wise!"

Ruby was picking her nose as this was said. Izuku couldn't help but cringe, careful to position his chair between his partner and Weiss, whose muscles were bunching as if she was going to pounce and strangle their team leader to death any second.

"So, who among you believes themselves to be the embodiment of these traits?" the professor inquired to the class.

Weiss's hand was up before the words had even fully left his mouth. "I do, sir!"

"Well then, let's put that to the test, shall we?" Professor Port chuckled. He held out his arm gestured to the corner of the room where a large cage contained a black beast with red eyes. "Step forward and face your opponent."

He captured a Grimm? One of the monsters that hunted humans every moment they existed? Killing them was hard enough, but taking one alive, struggling all the way with no regard for its own wellbeing? Izuku's admiration for his new teacher grew to even greater heights.

It only took a few minutes for Weiss to return in her combat outfit, Myrtenaster loaded, drawn, and at the ready. The professor stood beside the rattling cage with a twin-headed ax that was also a blunderbuss, ready to intervene if things got out of hand. It was a brilliant method to teach about anti-Grimm tactics with a lecture, and then give them a chance to apply those tactics in a safe and controlled environment.

"Go Weiss!" Ruby cheered. "Win this one for Team RIBW! Come on, guys, we have to cheer her on."

"Oh, yeah," Izuku stammered, jumping to his feet. "You can do this!"

Blake sighed and set down her book, lazily pumping a fist in the air. "Fight well."

"Fight the best!" Ruby yelled.

Weiss' eyes narrowed at the last shout, but they remained focused on the rattling cage.

"Ready?" Professor Port checked. Upon receiving a nod, he chortled. "Begin!"

The cage door was flung open and a Grimm that looked like a warthog, a Boarbatusk if Izuku remembered correctly, charged out straight for Weiss. His teammate lunged for it head-on, but her rapier bounced off its bone armor and she was sent skittering across the floor.

There were a few more passes like that, Weiss' eyes locked on the beast and constantly charging it, trying to slip her rapier past its tusks into its vulnerable eyes. Her form was practiced, her swordsmanship precise, but it just wasn't a sizable target area. If Izuku was fighting in her place, he would try a different approach, but if Weiss was set on her own method, there wasn't anything he could do about it. This was training, he had to let her find her own way—

"Weiss! The armor's too thick!" Ruby shouted. "Stop charging!"

Izuku cringed. "Um, Ruby, maybe it would be best not to—"

"Aim for its underbelly! There's no armor there—"

"Ruby! Stop distracting me!" Weiss screeched. Though a charge from the Boarbatusk limited her outburst.

As Izuku's team leader pouted in confusion, he couldn't help but feel for her. Ruby was just trying to help. It was an instinct he knew all too well. But when he'd offered Uraraka a strategy during the Sports Festival, she turned him down for a reason. Sometimes, when lives weren't on the line, you had to let people fight their own battles. Otherwise, they'd never know what they were capable of.

Still, it wasn't didn't take long before Weiss took Ruby's advice, swiftly using her glyphs to turn over the Boarbatusk and spear the Grimm through its unguarded underside.

"Bravo!" Professor Port grinned. "We are indeed in the presence of a true huntress-in-training. Now then, that's all the time we have for the day. Be sure to cover the assigned readings and remember! Stay vigilant! Class dismissed."

Such a wise man. Maybe he could ask him to sign the novellas Ozpin had given him! No wait, he was his student, that'd be inappropriate. He hadn't asked All Might to sign any of his posters, action figures, or pillows—

Oh my goodness! Why had he never asked All Might to sign any of his stuff?!

"Weiss! Weiss!" Ruby called, their white-haired teammate stomping away through the throngs of students headed for their next class. The red hooded girl turned to Izuku and Blake. "You guys go on ahead. I'll go check on her."

"Huh?" Izuku murmured, roused from his stupor. "Ruby, wait—"

Too late. Their leader had already run off. Izuku sighed and made to follow the stream of rose petals fluttering down the back hall, but a voice from behind made him pause.

"She told us to go on ahead," Blake said, packing away her books without a care in the world. "We should let her handle it."

"But Weiss is mad _at _her," Izuku countered. "She keeps trying to help, but she doesn't realize how she should handle it."

"And you do? Know how to handle it?" Blake inquired.

"Maybe," Izuku said. "I've been where Ruby is, trying to help when I shouldn't. It's not something that's easy to gain perspective on by yourself."

Blake raised an eyebrow. "You really think this is just about that?"

Izuku paled. "Um… yes? Is it not?"

"It was Weiss' breaking point. But it's hardly the only part," Blake rolled her eyes. "You must have noticed. Ruby hasn't exactly been taking things super seriously."

"Well, no," Izuku admitted. "But we're not even halfway through the first day of classes. She's not going to be like this the whole semester."

"How do you know that? More importantly in this case, how does Weiss know that? She's a Schnee who's had private tutors all her life. Do you really think she's going to give a goofy girl from Patch a second chance?" Blake accused. "Especially one who's been put above her?"

"Oh," Izuku mumbled. "When you put it like that…"

There was often more to people than could be discerned from first appearances, hidden depths. But the problem with hidden depths was that they were _hidden_. If people didn't see any indication that there was something more beneath the surface or were so put off by the surface that they didn't want to look, those depths wouldn't matter to anyone else. There was a reason even All Might had told him not to become a hero until the incident with the sludge villain, and the rest of Class 1-A initially took Kacchan as nothing more than an angry, but talented, jerk.

He knew Ruby was an incredible fighter from the Emerald Forest, but Weiss had only seen her nearly get killed by the Deathstalker, not casually slice apart dozens of Beowolves and smaller Nevermores. Even the plan they'd concocted to take down the Nevermore could have gone horribly wrong if even one element hadn't worked. In Weiss's mind, a girl two years younger than her was having everything she'd worked for handed to her on a silver platter and not even taking it seriously. That wasn't something he'd be able to fix for them. Still…

"Ruby still doesn't know what problem is. If she confronts Weiss herself, it might just make things worse," he said. "If I'm there, at least I can act as a mediator, maybe keep things from getting out of hand."

Blake tilted her head to the side. "You aren't going to stay out of this no matter what I say, are you?"

Izuku shrugged. "If I see a chance to help someone, I have to take it."

"That's a noble idea. It'll get you into more trouble than it's worth," Blake frowned. "Go. I'll let Professor Goodwitch know you might be a bit late."

"Thanks, Blake," Izuku smiled. "Oh, right! Is everything okay with you?"

The black-haired girl raised an eyebrow. "Um, yes? Why do you ask all of a sudden?"

"Oh, it's just that I saw your bow twitch during class…"

Blake's body suddenly went rigid, her hands tightening around her bag. "What about it?"

Izuku cringed, that was clearly a nerve. "It's your semblance, isn't it?"

"What?" Blake's eyes narrowed. "What are you talking about?"

"You can't turn your semblance off, can you? A shadow clone is constantly trying to escape from your body and it twitches your bow before it's pulled back in," Izuku rambled. "I'm sorry, it's probably personal, I shouldn't have pried, I just wanted to make sure everything was alright!"

"You think… that I…" All tension left Blake's form before she nodded. "Yes. That is exactly what was happening. Please don't tell anyone, I'm still working on getting it under control."

Izuku shot her a smile. "Your secret's safe with me. And don't worry. I used to break my bones when I used my semblance. You'll get yours under control in no time. After all, that's the kind of stuff we're here to learn."

"Yes, that is the duty of a huntress, controlling their power," Blake nodded. "And so is conflict resolution. You better go after Ruby and Weiss."

"Oh my gosh, you're right!" Izuku said, his eyebrows shooting up. He whirled around and dashed out the door Ruby and Weiss had left through. With any luck, he could catch up before anything went too badly wrong.

* * *

_**RWBYRWBYRWBYRWBYMHAMHAMHAMHA**_

Ruby didn't know what was going on. The day had been going so well! Izuku hadn't been devoured by Grimm in his sleep and made them all breakfast. He'd been through so much and yet he was so cool, even if he did shut down her bunk bed idea. She really shouldn't have put it to a vote.

But Weiss had won that vote! And she'd enjoyed the Katsudon just as much as the rest of them! Why was she so crabby now?

"Weiss!" she called, her teammate whirling on her in the empty hall. "What's wrong with you? You're acting—"

"What's wrong with me? What's wrong with _you_?" the other girl snarled. "You're supposed to be a leader, but all you've been so far is a nuisance!"

Ruby scoffed. "What did I do?"

"Nothing! That's just it! You've done _nothing_ to earn your position," Weiss declared. "Back in the forest, you acted like a child and nearly got yourself killed. And since then, all you've done is goof off like you're on vacation or something."

"Goof off?" Ruby repeated, her hands closing into fists. "I'm not goofing off just because I didn't listen to Professor Port's boring lecture."

"That is the exact definition of goofing off! We are here to learn how to be the protectors of the world!"

"And how is taking notes on how he used honey to sic a bear on a Beowolf going to do that?!"

"He is our teacher! You can't just disrespect his lesson because you don't feel like taking things seriously. This isn't a game—"

"I know it's not a game!" Ruby shouted, a fluttering white cloak tearing to shreds in her mind's eye. She was well aware that being a huntress was not a game.

She took a deep breath and looked at Weiss' icy stare head-on. "I am here to become a huntress, but that doesn't mean I'm going to change who I am to do it. It just means that I'm going to get serious when I need to. Izuku and I came up with the plan to kill the Nevermore. And I tried to help you during your fight just now before you snapped at me. If anyone's ever in danger, I'll save them however I can."

Weiss sneered. "So you'll only do your best if someone's life is on the line? Do you think that's all there is to being a huntress?"

"What are you talking about? Of course that's the most important part!"

"But it's not the only part, you dunce! A huntress is a unique independent law enforcement entity that operates over kingdom lines outside but parallel with the jurisdiction of the police and military!"

"A… what?"

"Ergh!" Weiss screeched. "Exactly! You… you think we're these fairy tale characters, going out, killing Grimm, and dancing with elves at the end of the day. We are entrusted by all the kingdoms with more freedom and power than almost anyone else on Remnant, and that means we must follow the laws and regulations set for us. Which you can't do if you don't pay attention and learn them!"

"I will!" Ruby protested. "But Professor Port wasn't teaching them."

"How would you know? You were too busy ignoring him," Weiss said. "Everyone looks to huntsmen for protection, scrutinizing our every move to make sure we're actually defending them from the Grimm instead of abusing our power. And you're our leader! How can anyone trust us when we're led by a bumbling child? I've trained all my life, worked myself to the bone, and I will not have all that wasted because of your stupidity."

"Oh, you mean like charging a Boarbatusk head-on over and over and expecting different results?" Ruby shot back. "You want to whine about me not being the perfect team leader, fine. But don't act like you're perfect, princess."

"I'm not perfect! Not yet anyway," Weiss snarled, crossing her arms over her chest. "But I'm still leagues better than you. And quite frankly, I deserve better. We all deserve a better leader."

"You mean you," Ruby scowled.

"Guys!"

Ruby and Weiss both whirled around, Izuku dashing around the corner. Their green-haired teammate came up to them, panting.

"I could hear you guys from down the hall," Izuku said, stepping between the two girls. "I know you're both mad at each other, but we're all on the same team. If we just calm down, I'm sure we can work this out—"

"This is exactly what I mean," Weiss declared, gesturing towards Izuku.

The boy's eyes widened. "Huh?"

"What are you talking about?" Ruby demanded.

"Why isn't he leader?" Weiss replied. "If there is some preposterous reason why I am unfit to lead our team, why isn't Izuku the leader instead of you? You both killed the Nevermore. But unlike you, he is studious, sensible, and actually pays attention in class because that's _why we are here_. Even if he found the lecture as dull as the rest of us."

"Dull?" Izuku muttered. "You guys thought Professor Port's lecture was—"

"I don't need you to tell me how awesome _my _partner is!" Ruby responded.

"Evidently, the rest of the world does!" Weiss shouted. "I accepted that I might not be made team leader. But I refuse to accept anyone so unworthy as you! Juvenile fools like you and that blond ignoramus have no place being in command of people like me, or Izuku, or Pyrrha… ugh! Literally anyone else would have been a superior choice!"

The white-haired girl spun on her heel and strode away. "I respect Professor Ozpin. But in this… in this, he made a mistake."

She stomped down the hall and left the partners in the dust. Izuku reached out his hand aimlessly, but she turned the corner into the girls' changing room before he could do anything more than stammer. Ruby couldn't bring herself to do that much.

Her partner sighed and turned back to her. "I'm sorry. I came because I thought I could help."

"Don't worry about it," Ruby assured him. "You didn't do anything wrong."

But as she looked at him, she couldn't help but wonder if Weiss did either. Well, she was being a jerk about it, but was she wrong in her points? After all, Ruby knew better than most how amazing Izuku was, his coming to try to help them just being the latest example. She was just her, normal knees Ruby Rose. Why on Remnant was she the leader of someone like him?

"Do you think she was right?" she asked her partner. "Do you think you'd be a better team leader than me?"

"What? No!" Izuku assured her immediately. "Ruby, you're incredible."

"But you're way more incredible!" Ruby replied. "I had my dad and Yang behind me, and Uncle Qrow still needed to give me special training so that I wouldn't be utter garbage. You've done everything that I have but with no one to help you. Your weapons don't even have guns!"

"You really are fixated on that detail," Izuku noted. "But you're completely wrong! I've had loads of amazing people helping me every step of my journey. I never would have made it here without their help, especially All Might, the headmaster, and my mom… yeah. The point is, you and I have been through different things, but that doesn't mean I'm better than you, or you're better than me, or that anyone is better than anyone. We all have different strengths and weaknesses, and we do our best to help each other where we're weak."

"Where we're weak…" Ruby murmured. "Who's All Might?"

"Oh, um, he's… remember that huntsman I told you about the night before initiation?"

"The one that always saves people with a smile? That's his name?"

"It's something that everybody calls him," Izuku explained.

"Oh, cool. Like a superhero name."

"Yeah, pretty much exactly that," Izuku nodded, a nervous chuckle on his lips. "As soon as he arrived somewhere in trouble, he'd always say that there was no reason to fear, because 'I am here'."

'_That's why we are here!_'

A small smile twitched on Ruby's lips. "If All Might was our age and here, do you think he would be a better team leader?"

Izuku froze. "Well… um… that's purely hypothetical… I mean that is completely impossible… and there would be no way of knowing if he'd even be on the same team at all…"

Ruby let out a resigned chuckle. Her partner was trying to get her spirits up, but he knew as well as she did that there was such a thing as a perfect leader.

And no matter how much either of them tried to disguise it, that wasn't her.

* * *

**This was a nice thing to squeeze out between cramming research papers. Darn quarantine. Well, more like darn virus. I hope everyone is safe and healthy during these turbulent times.**

**So for the Ruby and Weiss argument at the end, keep in mind that they didn't have the fights in the Emerald Forest between each other that led them to initially bridge the gap before the team leader situation set Weiss off again. This is all their tension since their first meeting crashing down around them.**

**This chapter was a lot of fun to write, both having the new teams bounce off each other, showing Izuku's reaction to more Remnant stuff, and doing something that I've always enjoying My Hero proper, which is playing around with the paragon status and showing both its positive effects and its negative ones.**

**Remember to vote in the poll whether Jiro is added to those taken by Salem's spell!**

**An extra huge thank you to my patrons: Gregg Tracton, Annaya Chan, Keith Tracton, Nora Okonus, KefkaesqueXIII, Christian Howard, SanyaBane, Matthew Blevins, David Wayman, G-Unit91, Primordial Paper, Mark Skrzyniarz.**

**Thank you for Reading! I hope you enjoy what comes next!**

**Go Forth and Conquer!**


	5. Chapter 5

**With a final vote of 70 in favor and 15 against, Jiro WILL be added into the roster of reincarnated students. As of June 27th, 2020, I have gone back and made the necessary adjustments to the first few chapters. Thank you all for voting and I hope that I can make the consequences of the outcome as entertaining as possible.**

**Beta-ed by xenosaiyan**

* * *

"I wouldn't worry so much about such hypotheticals, Ms. Rose. They can be quite distracting from your schoolwork."

Ruby and Izuku both whirled around to the new, teasing voice in the hallway.

"Professor Ozpin," Izuku greeted.

The elder huntsman smiled at them, his cane in one hand and a steaming coffee mug in the other. "Mr. Midoriya, would you please go on ahead to your next class? Let Glynda know that I'm speaking with Ms. Rose."

"Oh," Izuku glanced nervously at Ruby, probably wanting to defend her if their headmaster was about to scold her. "Are you sure? I don't mind staying—"

"I appreciate the thought, Izuku, but this is something I need to discuss with your team leader on her own," Ozpin gently commanded. "If you feel the need to speak with me, please do so after your classes. My door is always open."

"It's okay, Izuku," Ruby assured him. "Go on."

Izuku bit his lip but nodded. The green-haired boy turned around and marched down the hall, leaving his leader all alone with their headmaster.

"Did you hear all that?"

"More or less. I make a habit of keeping an eye on the first-years' opening classes. Though, they don't normally feature such dramatic epilogues."

Ruby gave a little chuckle at the professor's wording, but whatever happiness it granted was overcome by uncertainty soon after. "So? Is Weiss right? Did you make a mistake?"

Ozpin shrugged. "That remains to be seen."

"Huh?" Ruby raised an eyebrow. "What do you mean?"

"I mean it's only been one day," Ozpin clarified. "Ruby, I've made more mistakes than any man, woman, or child on this planet. But at this moment, I do not consider your appointment as leader to be one of them. Do you?"

"Well… I don't know," Ruby confessed. "Why did you choose me? I mean, Weiss is a bit of a jerk, and I guess Blake doesn't really talk enough for the job. But Izuku? He's awesome! He's a great fighter, he came up with a crazy cool plan, he made us all breakfast, and he gets along with everyone! Even Weiss likes him!"

"He does have a certain charisma about him. Though I'm not sure he even realizes that such is the case," Ozpin smiled. "That said, do you believe that a leader's purpose is to be liked?"

"Uh, well, I guess not," Ruby replied. "But it helps, doesn't it?"

"It does. But only to the degree that it assists the leader in performing their task. For the leader of a huntsman team, that is to form a cohesive and effective unit that excels as well as possible in all aspects of a huntress's duties."

Ruby frowned. "Including all those laws and rules Weiss was talking about."

Ozpin nodded. "Indeed. Though Ms. Schnee's temper is something she will have to master herself, her point itself was not without merit. A single huntsman could massacre scores of otherwise 'normal' people if they so chose. If the job did not have such a high fatality rate, and the threat of the Grimm was so imperative, I doubt our profession would be allowed such grand freedoms as we are. And since that freedom is necessary to protect as many people as we can, we must do everything in our power to reassure the wider populace that we will use our power responsibly."

"Not goofing off whenever we feel like," Ruby sullenly stated.

"I'm afraid so. Relaxation is important, but there is a time and place," the headmaster lightly chastised her. "Being a team leader is more than just a badge you wear into battle. It is a badge you wear constantly. If you are not always performing at your absolute best, what reason do you give for others to follow you?" Ozpin turned his back on her. "You have been burdened with a daunting responsibility, Ruby. I advise you to take some time to think about how you will uphold it?"

"Uphold it…" Ruby murmured. "What if… what if I shouldn't?"

Ozpin halted mid-stride and turned back to her. "What do you mean?"

Ruby gulped. "I mean… Weiss wasn't completely wrong. Izuku does have everything I have and more. Even if neither of us is a perfect leader, he's a whole lot closer than I am. If my job as a leader is to do what's best for my team, even if it wouldn't make me liked, wouldn't the responsible thing to do be to hand over leadership to him?"

Ozpin cocked an eyebrow, the mysterious professor actually having to take a moment to gather his thoughts. But only a moment.

"That is an excruciating conundrum," he conceded. "I suppose the answer would come down to whether you trust me as your leader?"

"What?" Ruby exclaimed. "What are you talking about, professor? You're not our leader—"

"I am your headmaster, Ruby. Everyone and everything that happens in this school is my responsibility," Ozpin explained. "I have taken care to know everything I can about each student. And while the lineups of each team were decided by the chess piece selection in the Emerald Forest, I chose the leaders from the performances during the initiation and previous records."

"So, _you _thought I'd make a better leader than Izuku?" Ruby said. "Why? He's him, and I'm just… normal knees."

Ozpin chuckled, that mysterious, twinkling smile returning to his face. "Another thing you will learn about leadership, Ms. Rose, is that sometimes it is best to keep certain information close to the chest for the good of all."

"So you're not going to tell me?"

Ozpin shook his head and started to walk away again. "This is a school. We can give you information to study and hone for tests, but we cannot give you the answers. The fact is, _you _are your team's leader, Ruby. Not Izuku. And that cannot be changed. So the question is, how will you handle this challenge?"

Ruby's brow furrowed as the headmaster strode away. She wasn't the perfect leader. She wasn't even sure that she was closer to being that than Izuku. But it was clear that she wasn't getting out of this burden.

So, how could she handle it better?

* * *

_**RWBYRWBYRWBYRWBYFTFTFTFT**_

Apparently, Professor Goodwitch had expected Ruby and Weiss to have some sort of issue, because she had not been surprised in the least when Blake had told her that they and Izuku would be a bit late. The combat instructor had let her know that such tardiness would not be tolerated in the future, but she would be lenient since it was the first day and there would be no actual sparring that day, just a long introductory seminar about safety rules and the expected decorum of the class. Beacon spars could get rather brutal, they were training for fights with Grimm, but by that same token, there was no room for slipups. If the professor called the fight, or anyone's aura went into the red if it was a mutually agreed upon duel outside of class, there would be no room for argument.

Which would be far more tolerable if Blake hadn't been made responsible for ensuring that her absent team members knew all that and everything they missed while they weren't present. Damnit, Izuku! Why did you have to stick your nose into it? You loved notetaking even when you were listening to Professor Port's snore-fest. Blake didn't take notes! She just listened to what she was told while reading her _Ninjas of Love_. That had worked out fine for her all her life.

But perhaps she needed to devote her attention to other matters. She could memorize all the information from a lecture with ease, but her cat ears were a natural part of her body. It was like breathing. If you were thinking about it, you had to micromanage every movement of the process. But if you weren't, it just occurred naturally. The difference was that her lungs weren't currently being hidden by a flimsy piece of cloth. Her ears twitched around when left to their own devices, so she would need to focus more on keeping them still if she didn't want to be discovered.

She'd gotten lucky with Izuku. From what he'd told them of his past, it was possible that he just hadn't encountered many faunus in his life, enough that he didn't consider that Blake could be a faunus if he didn't see her animal trait. It would do something to explain his interest in Katsuki. Though, she was a bit insulted that he thought she had such poor mastery over her semblance.

Oh well, it was better than him figuring out the truth. She was here to put her past behind her. She couldn't do that if her teammates, especially Weiss, knew she used to be White Fang.

"How far is she in the instructions?"

"Huh?" Blake looked up. Think of the devil and she would appear. Weiss, now once more dressed in their school uniform shuffled up to her partner in the bleachers of the combat arena. She took the seat on the black-haired girl's left, with Yang and the rest of Team AYBN on her right, Katsuki noticeably choosing to be furthest away from her.

"Not too far," Yang informed the tardy heiress. "She's just been going over standard combat practices. What'll be different from training and spars we had in combat school."

Weiss bit her lip. "I've missed that much? Do you think she'll go over it again—"

Blake held up her notes. "Got you covered."

"Oh," Weiss remarked, taking the notebook and examining the writing. "Thank you. Your penmanship is lovely."

Blake shrugged. Her mom had made her take calligraphy classes when she was younger.

"Where's Ruby?" Yang asked. Her brow furrowed in worry. "Where's Izuku?"

"I left them behind at the changing room. I think they were talking to Professor Ozpin," Weiss replied.

"So he's with her…" Yang muttered. The blonde got up from her seat and ran up the bleachers. Professor Goodwitch raised an eyebrow but didn't stop her lecture. The huntsman academies were more similar to colleges than high schools. Students didn't have to ask to go to the bathroom, but they were responsible for whatever they missed.

Of course, Blake doubted Yang was going to the bathroom.

"What was that about?" Weiss inquired.

"Eh, she just wants to give Izuku the protective older sister talk," Jaune explained. "It's a sibling thing."

Weiss raised an eyebrow. "My sister never did anything like that."

"She never let you _see_ her doing anything like that," Jaune responded. He flashed a smile that was probably supposed to look charming but instead came off as fake and awkward. "She probably just didn't want to worry you, Snow Angel."

"Ugh," Weiss groaned, turning away from the blond boy.

Blake caught Jaune's disappointment flicker across his pouting face, Pyrrha giving him a soft pat on the back. Though, the cat faunus regretted to say she identified more with Katsuki's eye roll at the sight. She had nothing against Jaune, and he was far from a stalker, but after her experience with Adam, she sympathized with Weiss wishing the young team leader would stop flirting with her.

Speaking of, Blake's partner's face was marred with a pensive frown, not even looking at the notes she was taking down from Professor Goodwitch's lecture. And considering how dutifully she'd written the notes from Professor Port's class when he'd bored them all to tears and she'd been so furious at Ruby, it was somewhat concerning.

"I take it Izuku wasn't able to help you and Ruby?" she inquired.

"What? Oh, yes," Weiss stammered, her brow furrowed. "He caught up with us, but I brushed him off. I… I talked to Professor Port."

"Really?" Blake remarked. "About what?"

"About whether I should have been team leader."

Blake cocked an eyebrow. "I'm pretty sure there's no changing that once the decision is made."

"It doesn't matter," Weiss said. "He told me he trusts Professor Ozpin's choice."

"And you're upset about that?"

"I'm… I'm not sure," the white-haired girl confessed. "He also gave me some advice. About being someone who's been given everything in her life. About how my… attitude was a hindrance to the team and wouldn't convince anyone in power to reconsider their decision."

"Great," Blake shrugged. "So you know what you need to do."

"But I don't," Weiss insisted, her voice cracking. "I understand that chasing after leadership and continuing to cause friction within the team is irresponsible, but does that mean I just ignore the problems that are already there? How can I be a good teammate when one of my teammates would be a far superior leader to the one that is the leader, and I can't bring the subject up without causing turmoil, but if I leave it alone, I'll be condemning the team to less than optimal performance."

Blake felt her eyebrow twitch, but not for the reasons she would have expected from listening to a Schnee's internal dilemma. Weiss's debate was… vexingly familiar.

To do nothing and passively try to work with the current system, or force change through more disruptive, possibly dangerous means. It felt wrong to compare the differing ideologies of her father and Sienna Khan to something as relatively puny as a teenage girl needing to keep her attitude in check, but the parallels as Weiss put it were quite visible. Blake had once faced a choice in the grander debate when she'd left her parents for Sienna Khan, chosen to use violent means to force humanity to respect the faunus, and she had seen that it had provided many benefits.

But the drawbacks, what they opened the door to, what they had allowed Adam to become… it wasn't worth it.

Of course, there was the key difference in the different issues' timeframes that made her advice to her partner far easier to give out.

"Weiss, it's only been one day," Blake pointed out. "I'll admit, Ruby did not put her best foot forward in Port's class, but I doubt that's all there is to her."

"But that can't be a part of her," Weiss said. "We're training to be huntresses. We have to put all our effort into our studies or else people could get hurt later on when we graduate and aren't the best we can be."

Blake shrugged. "That's a long way off. We're here to _learn _how to be huntresses, not already be perfect when we start here. Ruby's attitude is something she'll need to work on just as much as you will yours. So, maybe give her the same time to improve on her weaknesses that we'll all need."

"Izuku doesn't," Weiss argued. "He's studious, and thoughtful, and focused like Win… like a huntsman should be."

And now it made a bit more sense. You couldn't be in the White Fang without hearing about Winter Schnee, General Ironwood's right-hand bitch as she was called. While the term was certainly derogatory, not even Adam would disparage her combat skills, the Blood-Soaked Bull actually looking forward to encountering her for the challenge she would pose in addition to his personal grudge with the Schnee family. If that was what the specialist's enemies thought of her, to her little sister she might as well have been a demigod.

Weiss was striving to be a huntress like her sister and measured everyone else by that same standard. Blake could understand that. She'd once been determined to be like her father before it had seemed like he'd failed their people, and Adam, before she'd realized what he had become. But idolization like that, it was dangerous both for the people doing it, and the people they worshiped.

"You haven't known Izuku for any longer than you have Ruby. And just because he's made a good first impression doesn't mean he's perfect," Blake said. "He's a student too, there are things he still has to learn. You can't jump to judgments so quickly."

"Yeah, I mean, Izuku only got an average score on the practical exam," Jaune chimed in. "He did way worse than you two did."

"Supposedly," Katsuki growled.

Weiss raised an eyebrow. "How do you know what we all got on the practical exam?"

"Oh, um... well..." Jaune stuttered, nervously rubbing his arm. "Yang showed us. Her uncle is close with Ozpin and got her the list."

"We're sorry," Pyrrha apologized. "We shouldn't have looked at your scores without asking."

"No, you shouldn't have," Weiss sighed. "But… it's fine. Are you sure that Izuku did worse than us? An average score doesn't sound like him."

"Not at all," Katsuki muttered. "Something is up."

"Or he just had an off day," Blake suggested. "He told me that he's had trouble controlling his semblance before. He said it used to be so bad that he broke his own bones."

"Broke his own bones…" Katsuki murmured, almost absentmindedly. "He hadn't made the borrowed power his own…"

All four of the other huntsmen-in-training turned to the wolf faunus, eyebrows raised.

"What are you talking about?" Blake queried.

Katsuki blinked, almost as if he'd been woken from a dream. He scowled at them all. "Talking about what? What're you all staring at?!"

"You!" Weiss said. "You just said something about Izuku using 'borrowed power'. What was that about?"

"How the fuck am I supposed to know, Ice Bitch?!"

"Ahem!"

All five students sat ramrod straight, suddenly finding themselves the focus of Professor Goodwitch's very displeased glare.

"Team RIBW. Team ABYN," their teacher intoned. "I suggest you keep your chatter to yourself. I would prefer not to have to give anyone detention on the first day of classes."

'_But I will_' was left unsaid, but all of the huntsmen-in-training got the message. Even Katsuki meekly nodded to their professor's command. The blonde huntress acknowledged their actions and went back to her lecture, knowing they wouldn't be foolish enough to trespass over her decree.

Of course, Blake had been known to rush into things like racial tension and terrorism without thinking, so defying Glynda Goodwitch was only slightly more dangerous than her previous occupation. And a detail of what Jaune had said made her raise an eyebrow at her partner.

"You took the practical exam?" she inquired to Weiss. "Why? I mean, you're you. You could have easily gotten in with recommendations."

"You're not wrong about that," Weiss whispered, almost bitter. "I'm a Schnee. More than that, I'm the heiress to the Schnee legacy. I've trained all my life to excel, to be the best huntress I can possibly be. And yet people look at me, and they don't see me. They see my father."

Blake frowned, recalling her own gut reaction to meeting Jacques Schnee's daughter. "You're not wrong about that."

"Exactly. I haven't forgotten our first meeting," Weiss sighed. "But I do understand it. What my father has done to my family's company is monstrous. His business practices cut corners at the best of times and at their worst? Well, there is a reason Katsuki calls me what he does."

"I call you Ice Bitch because you're an Ice Bitch," the wolf faunus said. "I don't give two shits about your damn family."

Weiss cocked an eyebrow. "Um… thank you?"

"You're welcome."

Weiss coughed and turned back to her partner. "People see me as his child, his… _pet_. And I'm not. My sister escaped his control by becoming a huntress, by becoming one of the most incredible huntresses the kingdoms have ever seen. I'm going to do the same. And I will not cut corners on that mission. I will make my way on my own merits and restore my family's good name."

Blake smiled. "It's a wonderful goal."

"I'll say," Jaune said. "That's amaz—_ow_!"

"Leave them be, Noodle," Katsuki ordered, gripping his team leader's ear. "They're having a moment."

"Stop that," Pyrrha hissed, slapping the wolf faunus' hand of their leader.

Blake and Weiss shared a look and broke out into mutual grins. Childish as it was, the interaction between their sister team was undeniably amusing. And the fact that it was childish did well to illustrate an important point.

"Weiss, you wanting to be the best you can be is admirable," Blake complimented her. "But we're all still kids. We'll all grow into huntresses worthy of the name in time, but don't try to rush everything. If we try to force things to happen without thinking, we'll cause more harm than good. Putting Ruby or Izuku on pedestals when they're still students won't help anyone."

"No, I suppose it won't. I'm not anywhere near Winter's level yet. Expecting them to be is hypocritical," Weiss groaned. "I'm actually going to have to apologize to the girl who nearly blew me up."

"Don't worry. Ruby seems pretty forgiving," Blake teased. "I think you'd have to kill her family before she swore eternal vengeance."

"Oh haha. As if there aren't enough nutjobs like the White Fang after my head," Weiss countered, but the smile on her lips assured the cat faunus that her cover was still sound. "Thank you, Blake. I'm glad to have a partner as level-headed as you."

"Right…" Blake replied, forcing her smile not to crack with nervousness and her cat ears to stay perfectly still. "Don't mention it."

Level-headed? Huh. So that was the image she projected? Ironic. Blake couldn't remember the last time she was level-headed in anything. She leapt into things without thinking. The White Fang, her relationship with Adam, her _Ninjas of Love _books, a level-headed person would never have made her many mistakes. Even her attendance at Beacon was driven by instinct, by a need to do _something_ just, to make a difference in the cruel, brutal war.

She thought she was doing the right thing. But she thought she had been doing that every other time as well. She wouldn't be exempt from the consequences. No one at Beacon knew who she really was, but if they discovered the truth… well… Strangely enough, Weiss, for all her attitude, had grown on her. She didn't want her partner to hate her.

But if the truth came out, she would.

* * *

_**RWBYRWBYRWBYRWBYMHAMHAMHAMHA**_

Yang wasn't really going to the bathroom. Honestly, if her dad knew why she was doing what she was doing, he'd ground her for a month.

Well, he'd check to make sure Izuku really was on the level, _then _he'd ground her for a month if she was wrong. Of course, given that even she suspected she was being paranoid because of Katsuki's words, he'd probably still lecture her on jumping to conclusions.

Fortunately, by the time she reached the entrance to the combat arena, her target was already shuffling down the hall, his brow furrowed and a frown across his face. All thoughts of interrogation instantly fled Yang's mind at the sight of the depressed boy.

"Hey, Green Bean," she tentatively said. "Everything alright? Where's Ruby?"

"Oh, hey Yang," Izuku responded, his head coming up. "Ruby's fine. Professor Ozpin just needed to talk to her."

Yang raised an eyebrow. "Anything I need to worry about?"

"No, I think he's just giving her a pep talk. She and Weiss had a big fight and he's trying to help her figure out how to solve it," Izuku looked down, ashamed. "When I tried, I just made things worse."

"Eh, don't worry about it too much," Yang assured him. "I'm sure you didn't do it on purpose."

Izuku shrugged. "Does that matter? I wanted to help them bridge their differences, but instead, me just being there, being _here_, made Weiss even madder and Ruby think less of herself."

Yang's eyes narrowed. "What do you mean you made Ruby 'think less of herself'?"

"She thinks she's a bad leader because she thinks I'd make a better one," Izuku explained, sagging back against the wall of the doorway. "Which is ridiculous! Yes, she was goofing off in class, but that doesn't make her a bad leader. She's an amazing fighter, and her plan to take out the Nevermore at initiation was brilliant. I can't even get my aura to… ergh…"

"Can't even get your aura to do what?" Yang inquired.

"It's… trouble with my semblance. I haven't mastered it as much as I would like," the green-haired boy explained. "But because Ruby and Weiss both think I'm some perfect leader material or something, they both think less of our actual leader. And I can't help without them thinking I'm being humble and making things worse. I don't know what to do."

Yang decided then and there that Izuku was on the level. This trouble with his semblance was probably the explanation for why his practical exam score was only average instead of what his performance in the Emerald Forest implied it should be. And if he was tearing himself up so much about the trouble Ruby was having because of a problem that wasn't his fault, and only related to him at all because Weiss was looking for any reason to be mad about the team leader pick, then he would easily have her back when the more dangerous parts of huntress life bore down on them.

And if she was Ruby's all-knowing, advice-giving big sister, then she might as well extend that comfort to her sister's partner.

"Nothing," she declared. "Do nothing."

"What?" Izuku squeaked. "I can't. I have to help."

"And this is how you do it," Yang explained. "Izuku, do you really think I didn't want to be on the same team as my little sister?"

Izuku pursed his lips, his fingers rising to his chin. "I never really got the sense that you wanted to avoid being on her team. I mean, you encouraged her to be friends with me, and by implication that meant you wanted her to be my teammate, but that doesn't necessarily preclude you not be on the team, there are four people to a group after all—"

"I did. I did want to be on her team," Yang interrupted, before that intense mumbling of his could get warmed up. What even was that? "But I didn't want to let her run to me to be her partner as a crutch. Ruby needed to go out in the world and make her own friends, make her own way. She couldn't hide behind big sis's skirt forever and I can't always solve her problems, no matter how much I might want to. Do you get it?"

"… yes," Izuku nodded. "I think I do."

"Sometimes you've got to let people fight their own battles," Yang clarified. "You can support her as her partner, but she's the leader. Only she can decide how she's going to do that."

Izuku groaned, his face sinking into his palm. "I was just thinking that was part of the reason Weiss was mad at Ruby, and here I am making the same mistake. Again."

Yang patted him on the shoulder. "Don't worry about it too much. We're all here to learn. Besides, wanting to help isn't exactly a bad instinct. You've just got to let Ruby come into her own, and let Weiss get her head out of her ass. I mean, she's got to realize that the headmaster made the choice he did for a reason."

"Yeah, you're right," Izuku smiled. "Thanks, Yang."

"No problem, Green Bean," Yang grinned. She clapped him on the back and turned him towards the combat arena. "Now, come on. You're already late, and my bathroom break is way over."

"Bathroom break?" Izuku squeaked, his cheeks red and his eyes locked on the other student's arm on his back.

Yang couldn't help but chuckle. It was good to know that her sister's partner wouldn't have the guts to try anything inappropriate towards her. Even better to know he was just what he seemed: an awkward, dorky, but talented guy just trying to make his way as a huntsman, same as the rest of them.

Katsuki could keep his paranoid ramblings to himself. Everything about the Green Bean was perfectly fine.

* * *

_**RWBYRWBYRWBYRWBYMHAMHAMHAMHA**_

The elevator of the headmaster's office dinged open. Ozpin looked up from the paperwork on his desk and smiled at the entrant.

"Sorry to intrude," Izuku greeted. "But you said your door was always open—

"And I meant it," Ozpin assured him. "But I will admit, I did not expect you to come immediately after classes. Did you make any progress with young Mr. Bell?"

"Our teams ate lunch together," Izuku awkwardly chuckled. "But things were awkward enough between Ruby and Weiss that I couldn't really strike up a conversation. He was focused on his food anyway. Then Yang told him to chew with his mouth closed, and then he called Yang… something I don't want to repeat. After that, she called him… another thing I don't want to repeat."

Ozpin cringed. "I suppose I should have expected both literal explosions and _verbal _explosions when those two became partners. I suppose we'll have to wait for Glynda's first proper class for the former to occur."

"Yeah," Izuku replied. "With any luck, some exciting combat will jog Katsuki's memories. He always did love fighting."

"Many who walk these halls do," the headmaster acknowledged. "So, what was it you wished to talk about? If it is about Ms. Rose and Ms. Schnee's debate, I have intervened as much as I dare at the moment. If things escalate, I will step in, but I do not believe they will."

"No, it's not that. Well, not exactly," Izuku said. "I've accepted that I have to let Ruby and Weiss handle their own struggles, however much I might want to help."

Ozpin cocked an eyebrow. "An excellent conclusion. But then what's wrong?"

"Nothing's wrong, it's just… well…" Izuku shuffled. "Back home, I'm not just training to be just another hero. I mean, I am training to be a hero, and I don't care that much for fame but… my mentor All Might was the Number One Hero, the Symbol of Peace. He entrusted me with his quirk, and has helped me every step of the way so that I could replace him and maintain society's stability."

"An admirable goal," Ozpin noted. Even on Remnant, having such a symbol, a singular figure that the people could look through and know for certain that they would be safe, would be invaluable. The security that such a huntsman would provide could, in theory, drastically decrease negativity and with it the threat of the Grimm on any particular kingdom or settlement. "But what is it you need from me?"

"Part of being the Number One Hero is to lead the way for other heroes," Izuku said. "I am completely fine with Ruby being the team leader, but I still want to know why she was the superior choice. I want to know where I can improve as a leader when I return home, so I can be the best hero I can possibly be."

Oh. And here he was thinking that his little wordplay with Ms. Rose would see the end of this topic. Perhaps that was naïve of him when dealing with such enterprising youths. Fortunately, Izuku was the one person to whom he could actually divulge his reasoning.

"In terms of combat strength, tactical ability, and charisma, both you and Ms. Rose are equally qualified to serve as leaders of a huntsman team, though what kind of leader is needed depends on the individual makeup of each group," Ozpin revealed. "You have an edge in live battle experience while she has an advantage in aura control, both disadvantages that can be dealt with given training and time."

"I see," Izuku muttered, his brow furrowing. "That makes sense. Ruby's familiarity with Remnant's nature provides her with a natural ability to bond with and inspire others. Meanwhile, even though I've done my best to fill in the gaps in my knowledge, there's only so much I've been able to learn in my short time here. But that also factors into my own abilities, though whatever experience I have over her is only because of the villain attacks I've made it through, otherwise, she has fought more Grimm than I have—"

"Mr. Midoriya. Please."

"Oh, sorry, professor."

"It's no trouble," Ozpin assured him. "But to be completely truthful, the deciding factor in my choice was your… exceptional circumstances."

Izuku tilted his head to the side. "My circumstances?"

Ozpin nodded. "A team relies on its leader, survives on them. I can name many who have survived the loss of a team member, but few that pulled through the loss of their leader. Because of this, a leader must be devoted to their team and the missions that they set out on. And, though I have no doubt that you could fulfill that were you born on Remnant, the fact is, your primary responsibility is to find and restore your friends. A burden already far too heavy for me to feel it permissible to place that of leadership on your shoulders as well."

"Oh. That… that makes sense…" Izuku murmured. The young boy's brow furrowed, not a single word slipping out of his lips.

"Does this disappoint you?" Ozpin inquired. He knew from experience that sometimes the hardest thing to hear was that you were doing nothing wrong, that there was no improvement you could make to bolster your situation. Sometimes, a person could do everything right, and life could still be… difficult, at the best of times.

"It's… I don't know what it is," Izuku replied. "Coming to another world to find them, in my head I thought it would be like diving into a dungeon in a video game, I guess. Everything would be against me and I'd have to struggle and fight to free them from an immortal witch."

"A bracing scenario," Ozpin remarked, not mentioning that he himself had lived a similar situation for many, many lives.

"But it's not. It's not a dungeon. It's just another… _world_," Izuku elaborated. "Ruby, Weiss, Blake, and the others have no idea about Salem or what she's done to my friends."

"I have gone to great lengths to ensure that status quo," Ozpin noted. "The despair and death if the general population knew about Salem's immortality… I don't have to imagine it, and will never let it be repeated on a grander scale, I assure you, my friend."

"That's not it. I didn't realize that the people here would have their own lives, their own goals to protect people," Izuku said. "They're just trying to become huntsmen – heroes – and trusting me to watch their backs. And here I am unable to give them my full help. I'm handicapping them and they don't even realize it."

Ozpin could barely believe it. Here was this boy, on an interdimensional quest to rescue his classmates who'd been kidnapped by Salem for a war they had no part in, facing odds that could generously be called 'titanic', and he was feeling guilty for his mission hampering the natives he'd known for barely a week.

He and Ms. Rose really were a great deal alike, as they both were to the late Mrs. Rose. Which meant it was the headmaster's job to keep them alive.

"Izuku, it has only been _one day_," he said, repeating the words he'd told Ruby earlier that morning. He rose to his feet and clipped his way across the office. "Your quest has hardly done any permanent damage to your teammates, and whatever trifles your presence may have contributed to are not your fault. This path is not an easy one to walk, interdimensional traveler or not. And I can't see you leaving them to be hurt for your own sake."

"But what if there comes a time when my goal to save my friends conflicts with their duty as huntresses," Izuku panicked. "What if Salem's already gotten to one of them and Ruby and the others want to take them out to protect Remnant before I have a chance to restore their memories?"

Ozpin smiled at his young friend and placed a comforting hand on his shoulder. "We will cross that bridge when we come to it. For now, focus on Mr. Bell. Once his memories are restored, we'll have one more ally to find the others."

Izuku glanced to the side, still unsure. He stepped out of Ozpin's grip and bowed to him. "Thank you, professor."

The green-haired boy walked back into the elevator and descended back down to the school proper.

Ozpin sighed. In the end, he could only offer his aid and his reassurances. Brave and courageous he might have been, Izuku Midoriya was still only a child. By his own admission, his world was far better off than Remnant, with mankind flourishing across the planet. And here, he met a group of friends who all desired to protect their post-apocalyptic civilization and were putting their all into 'fighting the good fight' so to speak. Meanwhile, he himself sought to rescue only six people that he personally cared about. Put in those terms, his own goals did seem comparatively self-centered and perhaps dishonest to his teammates.

But only in those terms. Izuku put far too much on himself, and the fact that he was considering how his mission affected his team's aspirations just from how his presence indirectly factored into Ruby and Weiss's argument, was proof of that. He wanted to save his friends, but he didn't want to hinder Remnant's natives while doing it. If they understood the full details of his situation, Ms. Rose at least would probably try to help him.

But given the outlandishness of the truth and his own experiences getting each generation of his circle to believe in the impossible, Ozpin did not think that was wise. No, they'd think Mr. Midoriya mad and the headmaster would only be able to compensate so much for that. And gods forbid if Salem got wind of the situation. All the work they'd done to make Izuku seem as mundane as possible, having him attend Beacon as a student, fabricating an average score for the practical entrance exam in case she had one of her minions hack their records, it would all be for nothing and she'd spare no expense acquiring him and any reincarnates she found along the way.

No, for now, secrecy was their best option. Just as it had been for him these many, many millennia.

* * *

_**RWBYRWBYRWBYRWBYMHAMHAMHAMHA**_

Katsuki didn't know what to expect from a first day of school. His time with his parents in Mistral had been chaotic at best, Kali's schooling at the orphanage hadn't exactly been traditional, and huntsman academies weren't exactly known for the predictability of their curriculum anyway. Thus, when he'd prepped himself to be worked to the bone from the word 'go', and proceeded to get a day of lectures and safety speeches, _including in his combat class_, he'd been left with a fair bit of energy to work off.

Which was how he found himself in the academy gym tenderizing a punching bag.

The so-called 'Beacon Recreation Center' was undeniably a step-up from the rundown sandlot he, Kirishima, and the other huntsmen hopefuls had worked out in back in Kuo Kuana, but he found he didn't care much for the atmosphere. Back home, it'd been pure, restless energy, trying to forge itself into something resembling technique, relaxing simplicity. Here, surrounded by sterile, stainless exercise machines and other students keeping their distance or shooting him distrustful stares, it felt more like he'd stepped from the classroom onto a battlefield, one that he was far less suited for than a usual fight. He could have just kicked the asses of anyone who gave him trouble, but then there was his promise to Kali…

Argh. Maybe the coward didn't wear the bow just because she was pathetic, but because dealing with these racists was a waste of time. Whatever. He'd deal. He'd deal and come out stronger along the way, just like he always did.

For now though, he didn't want to be bothered, so he taped up his hands and started laying into a bag. The few punks who'd looked like they were going to give him trouble, led by some… Win… Win-something… his hair was flat… led by Flathead, flinched away when they saw how viciously he was going at his target. Bullies they may have been, but a bully was just another word for someone who wasted time picking on other people to feel better about their own fear. Seeing his nonchalant show of strength was more than enough to intimidate them off.

His punching bag getting unexpectedly firm against his strikes and a sea of golden hair swinging out from behind it revealed that it had been less effective with his partner.

"You finished showing Moon Eyes around the room already?" he inquired, continuing to hammer into the bag. "You better not have touched my _Road Warrior of Vacuo _book."

"Don't get your hair in a twist. Ruby knows well enough not to touch someone else's comic books without permission. She says you can borrow the next few volumes from her if you want to," Poofy Hair informed him, fortifying his punching bag from the other side. "She said she had to study though. Ruby! Studying! On the first day of school!"

Katsuki scowled. "You here to bitch about your little sister not spending time with you, or was there something you wanted?"

"Well, you can't borrow my _Road Warrior _books with that attitude," Poofy Hair snorted. "I just wanted to tell you that you were being paranoid. Izuku hasn't completely mastered his semblance. That's probably why he got the average score, not whatever grand conspiracy you've cooked up in your head."

For some reason, that made Katsuki growl, even though he'd heard the coward say something similar during combat class. He piled more power into his punches, trying to blow his partner off the bag. "He's hiding something."

"Yeah, he's hiding that he has trouble with his semblance. He only told me because it slipped out while we were talking," Poofy Hair countered, rolling her eyes. "Why are you so sure that the one guy who actually wants to be your friend is up to no good? Are you that used to people hating you?"

"I don't give two shits about what worthless people think of me."

He knew that Broccoli Hair was hiding something. There was some truth to that spiel he said in the kitchen about wanting to use Katsuki as a rival to improve himself, but that wasn't all. The wolf faunus didn't know what or why, but his instincts were screaming at him that the bastard wasn't just some doormat huntsman hopeful.

And then there were the flashes, visions that crept up on him ever since he'd met the green-haired bastard. It had started with that big blond guy he'd glimpsed during initiation and hadn't slowed down since. When they were all getting settled in last night, he had looked up from stashing his single _Road Warrior of Vacuo _volume under his bed to see a kid version of Broccoli Hair holding out a hand to him, asking if he needed help.

He wasn't looking down on him, he knew what it felt like to be looked down on, but for some reason, Katsuki had still boiled with anger and thrown a punch at what turned out to be nothing. He'd accidentally smacked the Wet Noodle into the wall of their room.

His dreams had been haunted by two adults, a man and a woman who resembled him somewhat that he longed to reach out and hug in a way he hadn't felt since his parents died. When Broccoli Hair had tried to keep Moon Eyes from ignoring Professor Port's lecture before the Ice Bitch blew a gasket, he'd seen an image of the child Broccoli Hair standing between a small kid, two extras, and a kid version of himself lacking wolf ears. Said something about him needing to stop being 'mean' or something.

Then, during combat class, when the coward mentioned that his semblance used to break his bones, he'd gotten a whole rush of images. Broccoli Hair launching an uppercut at him that blew away a building and shattered his arm. Broccoli Hair breaking every limb he had firing air blasts at some guy shooting ice. Broccoli Hair standing before him with his arm in a sling, talking about making his 'borrowed power' his own. Whatever that meant.

But somehow, Katsuki _did_ know what that meant, at least partially. The green electricity that shimmered around the bastard and made him go faster was the same titanic force that used to break his bones, but now with some actual control applied to it. Thinking about it in hindsight, it showed some decent growth from the visions he'd gotten of Broccoli Hair's past to how he was now.

_Except he had never met Broccoli Hair before!_

He thought he might have been going crazy. Seeing things from a past he was never a part of. A past that he was positive Broccoli Hair knew about. Half of him wanted to drag the green-haired bastard into the sparring ring and beat the answers out of him.

But he couldn't risk that. Whatever this nonsense was about, Broccoli Hair had both their teams wrapped around his finger. If he made a real move on him, they'd go running to Ozpin. The headmaster may have wanted to be more inclusive, but Katsuki knew that whether he was called a loose cannon or a crazy faunus, those in power would kick him out the first chance they got. And he couldn't let that happen. He needed Beacon. He needed people like Pyrrha, competent rivals to help him grow. Back home there was only Kirishima, and you could only get so far when your fighting instincts were tuned to a single person.

So for now, he'd bide his time. He'd keep studying, keep training, become as strong as he possibly could. And he'd watch, wait for the right moment when he could go twelve unrestrained rounds with that green-haired bastard without their teams or any of the teachers raising a fuss over it. Then, he'd see just how well he'd mastered this borrowed power of his.

"Yo, Sparky! Loosen up your shoulders! It's ruining your form!"

His eyebrow twitched up into his forehead. "Shut up, Poofy Hair."

"Don't get like that with me! I saw you fight in the Emerald Forest, and I'm pretty sure I know boxing better than you. So loosen up your damn shoulders!"

Katsuki growled and upped his fisticuff onslaught. Until that time came, he was still stuck with Poofy Hair.

He loosened his stupid shoulders.

* * *

_**RWBYRWBYRWBYRWBYMHAMHAMHAMHA**_

Izuku had long ago realized that he wouldn't be able to become the Symbol of Peace without stepping over others. He had knocked Shinso out of the Sports Festival and eliminated those third years from the provisional hero license exam despite the fact that it was their last chance and he'd have two more. By definition, there could only be one of the World's Greatest Hero, and he'd have to work his way to the standing.

But both he and those he overtook back home were working towards the same goal, to be the best heroes they could possibly be. By being in the same industry, they acknowledged that they'd be competing with each other. The theory of capitalism was that the strongest succeeded after all.

But being a huntsman wasn't a business, even if it was a job. It was a desperate, necessary duty to hold back the Grimm and allow the rest of society to even exist. Ruby, Weiss, and Blake, no matter their different approaches, all wished to become huntresses with all their hearts. Meanwhile, he was just using the placement as a cover to search for his classmates.

His mission was crucial, he couldn't and _wouldn't_ abandon it. But that didn't mean there wasn't a fair bit of guilt gnawing inside him for deceiving his new teammates. He'd only known them a short time, but after the intensity of the combat with the Nevermore, he found he couldn't ignore their wellbeing any more than he could those he cared about from Earth. And his presence was detrimental to them, either by making them doubt themselves or by having an alternate agenda that they knew nothing about, even if it was benevolent. He felt like a character in a comic book that constantly did shady stuff but the author eventually revealed to be one of the more complicated good guys, except those shady actions usually still caused trouble for the more straightforward heroes.

Izuku didn't want to cause trouble for anyone. But in this scenario, he didn't think he had a choice. As he shuffled back to his room from Ozpin's office, he just wished he'd been more attentive sooner. Not thinking of Remnant's inhabitants on the same level as his Earth friends was not okay. Even aside from the moral implications that he did not like, it was a practical detriment to his mission. He knew enough about the new world he inhabited from Ozpin and the books he'd been given to pass as an odd individual, but not enough to truly _get _its people. He hadn't realized the underlying cause of Weiss's high standards for Ruby until Blake had spelled them out for him because he hadn't thought of the SDC as anything other than a dust manufacturer. He had difficulty figuring out Kacchan's new identity until he acknowledged that there were differences between the person he knew and the boy who'd grown up a wolf faunus.

That wouldn't disappear. Intellectually, he'd known that his friends could have been different people, but he'd put too much faith in the Gods' word that they'd still be the same deep down. Deep down was better than nothing, but hidden depths didn't do much good if they didn't become visible. He'd have to handle who his classmates were now if he was to save who they once were.

In time, he returned to Team RIBW's room and opened the door, ready to get some rest and just get out of this mess of a day.

Except…

"Why is a huntress so limited in how much dust they can carry over kingdom lines? We can't kill Grimm without ammo!"

"Trust me, transporting dust over long distances is dangerous enough as it is. My family's company has to prove to the kingdoms that we can provide sufficient security before they allow certain contracts, or they won't permit it due to the risk of it being hijacked. And that's just for standard use dust, the weapons-grade material is even worse."

"But we're huntresses! Isn't that as good as security gets?"

"You'd think. It's why General Ironwood was able to successfully lobby for a raise in the limit at a previous Vytal Festival summit. Which was how many years ago?"

"Oh! Um… eight! Eight years ago!"

"Correct! Not bad."

Izuku rubbed his eyes to make sure he wasn't seeing things.

Ruby and Weiss were seated on the former's bed, a mess of books and papers between them. Their team leader was constantly scribbling down notes while looking back and forth between the different volumes, while the white-haired heiress underlined passages and passed over some coffee. At least, until her crystal blue eyes caught sight of Izuku, at which point she smiled at him.

"Welcome back, Izuku," she greeted, prompting Ruby to look up and wave.

"Hey, partner!" the red hooded girl grinned. "How was your talk with Professor Ozpin?"

"It was… fine," Izuku answered. "Are you guys studying?"

Ruby nodded. "Yup. I need to be the best team leader I can be, so Weiss is helping me go over what I missed today."

"Those are hardly the only gaps in your knowledge. Skipping ahead two years may have been the right move for your combat ability, but you missed a lot of material," Weiss said, before suddenly paling. "But don't worry! I am going to be the best teammate I can be and help you catch up."

"Yeah! We've got this!" Ruby cheered. She raised a flat palm for a high-five.

Weiss cocked an eyebrow, before hesitantly meeting her teammate's hand in the most awkward high-five Izuku had ever seen. Fortunately, Ruby didn't seem to mind, grinning the entire time.

Her joy was contagious. Izuku felt his own weariness lift a bit, thrilled that at least one of the problems he'd caused had managed to mitigate itself.

"I'm really happy to see you two getting along," he said.

Weiss cleared her throat and coughed into her hand. "Well, yes. We are teammates. Whatever issues we may have with each other, it would be irresponsible of us to let it affect the team."

"She means she's sorry for being a buttface," Ruby sniggered.

"I was not a buttface!"

"You were pretty buttface-like."

"Ugh, fine, I admit, my attitude did need to be far more… constructive," Weiss confessed with a sigh. She turned towards Izuku. "I also wanted to apologize for drawing you into our bickering. Whatever Ruby and I need to work on, it was unfair to make you feel responsible for it."

"No, it's alright," Izuku assured her. "I'm just sorry I wasn't able to help."

Weiss frowned. "It wasn't your fault. Just because we're teammates doesn't we don't all have our own individual hurdles to work through. You for instance want to befriend that mangy mutt Katsuki. For some reason."

Izuku chuckled nervously. "Guess it is a hurdle. Still, I'm not going to give up on it. I can't. And you guys shouldn't either."

"Well, duh. That's what the books are for," Ruby teased. "Speaking off…"

She leapt off the bed and grabbed Izuku's hand, guiding her partner to the edge of the room. There stood their shared bookshelf, with Ruby's side filled with a vast assortment of comic books, weapons manuals, fairy tales, huntress biographies, and textbooks. In contrast, his own section was pitifully vacant, supporting only his textbooks, the novellas Ozpin had lent him, and a mix of Weiss and Blake's extra collections (they both had so many that they didn't all fit on their shelf).

Ruby skipped over to her shelf and handed Izuku a sizable comic book trade volume. It took the green-haired boy a moment to orient it correctly in his hands (he still wasn't used to Remnant's books being constructed with the spine on the left) but when he did, he raised an eyebrow at the stylized drawing of a grizzled man covered in armor and robes standing in front of an elaborate steampunk racecar in the middle of a sandstorm.

"_The Road Warrior of Vacuo_," he read. "What's this?"

"It's one of the most awesome comic books ever. I mean, I always liked _Captain Vale _and _Sailor Shattered Moon _better myself, but he's got a lot of awesome weapons. He's Yang's favorite, that's for sure," Ruby explained with a mischievous smirk. "And, when she was showing me around her room, the only non-textbook thing on Katsuki's shelf was a beat-up copy of the first volume."

Izuku's eyes widened, looking at the book with new understanding. "This? Are you sure?"

"Trust me. I know from experience that you only keep a book that beat up around if you know you're going to reread it a lot," Ruby assured him. "If you're going to get him to say anything to you other than 'grrh' or 'shut up, Broccoli Hair', you're gonna need some common interests. You do like comic books, right?"

Izuku grinned. "Yeah. You could say that."

When he and Kacchan had been little, the only thing they'd loved more than playing hero was reading the official All Might manga, especially when they came with Hero Trading Cards. The adventures in the story didn't actually happen in real life, but the authors did liaison with All Might and his agency to maintain realism. Izuku never knew if Kacchan kept up with it after they'd grown distant, but he wouldn't be surprised in the least if he did. After all, even if they did so in different styles, both of them idolized All Might.

There was no All Might on Remnant, but that didn't mean Katsuki Bell hadn't still looked for inspiration.

"Thank you, Ruby," Izuku said, skimming through the illustrations of the opening pages. "This is going to be a huge help."

"No problem," his partner replied. "And hey, if nothing else, it'll be a great read."

"A great read? Really?" Weiss questioned. She sauntered over and looked at the book over Izuku's shoulder. "This looks like a picture book."

"That's the best part!"

Izuku nodded. "The artwork is usually gorgeous."

Weiss glanced through the book's pages. "The artwork of a grimy desert? The linework is quite good, but not for me."

"Then we need to find one that does work for you," Ruby declared, sweeping her arm back towards the shelf. "Anyone on my team can borrow any of my comics!"

"Really?" Izuku gasped, his eyes sparkling at all the new heroic stories he could read. "Thanks, Ruby!"

"That's quite generous," Weiss admitted. "But we really need to get back to studying."

"I'll study. _You _need to read _Sailor Shattered Moon_!"

"No!"

"Oh, come on! You can't hide away in the library reading those _Ninjas of Love _books with Blake. The covers were so boring."

"You can't judge a book by its cover. I'm sure Blake's books are perfectly respectable literature."

"Respectable, not fun! Come on, at least read _Captain Vale_. Or _Major Atlas _if you're feeling homesick."

Izuku smiled to himself and shuffled over to his bed, basking in the glow of his teammates' new, far more friendly argument. It seemed the advice he'd gotten from Yang and Ozpin had proven correct after all. He really did put far too much pressure on himself too often. His teammates may have been teenagers like him, but they had trained hard to get where they were. They weren't helpless incompetents who would live or die if he sneezed wrong. They were warriors, huntsmen-in-training.

And, he realized, they were his friends. New friends, to be sure, but that did not reduce how much he wanted to see them thrive, just like how he'd only known the rest of Class 1-A a week before the USJ Incident had solidified them as comrades. Maybe that was why Ozpin made the Beacon Initiation so dangerous? Life or death situations had a habit of forging strong bonds between strange bedfellows.

He couldn't tell them about his mission yet, they'd think he was insane, but perhaps one day. After he'd restored Kacchan and a few others to back up his story. Hopefully, nothing came up that forced him to truly go against them before then.

But perhaps that was a reasonable hope to have. So far, their efforts to disguise him from Salem's prying eyes appeared to be working, and aside was a crime wave of dust robberies in the city, all seemed quiet in the Kingdom of Vale.

He had time. Nothing was bearing down to kill him just yet.

* * *

_**RWBYRWBYRWBYRWBYMHAMHAMHAMHA**_

He was conflicted when he returned to the club and saw what was happening on the dance floor. Normally, he was opposed to a gaggle of suited men swarming his sister on principle. However, watching her kick the asses of every single one of the bastards was undeniably entertaining.

With the club closed until later in the evening, Momo had declared a mandatory all day, five days a week training session for all of Junior's thugs. They'd done well enough with the few heists they'd managed so far, but having every single one of them, along with their bosses, manhandled by a huntress-in-training that hadn't even entered Beacon yet, was a disgrace to the Spiders' name that would not be allowed to repeat. For hours upon hours, his sister had drilled them in sword forms, staff forms, gun forms, and pretty much every other form there was. When a control freak like Momo learned how to make every weapon, she made it her business to master every weapon. She'd never gone to a Huntsman Academy (Little Miss had shot down the idea when she'd brought it up. She wasn't going to risk her two enforcers for anything but business when the Branwen Tribe was still harrowing their holdings), but he doubted anything less than a huntress could take her.

For the last fifteen minutes of each session before the club had to get setup for the night, his sister indulged in what she liked to call 'practical application'. Every mook was given one of Junior's dime a dozen red dust swords and told to come at Momo with everything they had.

Following that was fifteen glorious minutes of grown men screaming like little girls.

Momo used her favorite quarterstaff for the slaughter, smacking the suited goons across the dance floor with the whole thing, separating it into a pair of batons to dual wield or blasting them back with birdshot from the shotgun modes. He would have given it a cool name like the Double Blast Staff or the Big Bang Blasters, but his sister tended to be more down to Remnant than that. She'd specially designed the weapon so the first part of her semblance could make it as efficiently as possible and to her, it was just 'the quarterstaff'.

Ergh. How dull.

Then again, dull, by-the-book, and efficient was just the way Momo did things. Every move she made in the midst of the mob could have been pulled out of a combat textbook, her simple strikes and deflections handily parrying each of the mooks' attacks and flowing into a brutal countermove. If it worked, it worked. He didn't exactly have a complicated fighting style either.

His sister had dropped the goons down to only half a dozen. One of them came in from the front, only for Momo to riposte his slash and kick him back into two more of the suited idiots, who'd tried to charge in after their fellow.

He let out a round of cackling laughter. The remaining goons were too enraptured by their fellows' humiliation to notice, but Miltia and Melanie, who were hanging out at the bar, zeroed in on him, both of them gulping. What could he say? He drew aggro just from entering a room, at least from people with a few brain cells.

But Little Miss's wayward daughters had nothing to fear. He'd just come home from a long day of mark scouting and birthday shopping. The only thing he wanted to do was give Momo her present, finish the debrief, and then hop online and play some _Ultimate Ninja Master_—

The remaining three goons broke out into runs on three separate paths. Two of them came at Momo from either side, their swords easily caught and deflected by her batons, which proceeded to swat them down to the ground. However, the final mooks came around behind her while they were doing it and _slashed his sister across the back._

-He stopped laughing. He set his bag down on the bar counter and stampeded through the herd of thugs, brushing them aside as easily as if they were made of paper.

In the short time it took him to reach the center of the action, Momo had already recovered from the glancing blow to her aura and kicked the goon in the stomach, a hammer blooming underneath her foot to give the attack extra weight. The bastard was laid out on the ground, clutching his chest as he groaned.

He stomped his way to the center of the room. He smiled at the thug and stretched out his hand to him.

"Not bad, pal," he said all too sweetly. "Let me help you up."

The suited goon's eyes flickered between his hand and his face from behind his sunglasses, but he started to reach out his hand.

Just as he himself held his other hand behind his back, the pad of his thumb about to press into the fabric of his glove along with the other four that touched it from the inside. Once all five touched the same thing, his semblance would activate one way or another.

"Tenko," Momo sighed, more exasperated than anything. "**Stop**."

At least sixty people heard her command, so his aura and theirs only flickered for the briefest fraction of a second, though he was probably the only one with the attunement and experience to notice it. It didn't really matter, the decay part of his semblance seemed to be the only thing along with the creation part of hers that the Order Command didn't work on, but it was enough to get him to turn to face her.

"He hit you."

"It's training. He's _supposed _to try to hit me," Momo countered. "So quit it. We need every man we can get, and we won't get quality if we kill them for trying something that works."

Tenko fudged his face in a scowl, but he backed away. He knew she was right. He didn't always get why a single pawn mattered in chess, but she loved that stupid game, so he'd help her play it.

Momo nodded and helped the mook to his feet. "What's your name, boy?"

"Um, my name… ma'am," the suited bastard muttered, his head tilted far too low from Momo's eyes for Tenko's liking. "Ash, ma'am. My name is Ash."

"Did you come up with the idea for that pincer strategy, Ash?" Momo inquired. "And please don't lie to me. I'd have to let my brother have his way with you if you did."

"I wouldn't, ma'am!" the goon hastily assured her. "I did come up with it though. You can ask the boys."

Momo turned to the two fools who'd helped him hit her. They nodded, terrified sweat pouring down their brows. Tenko's sister smiled and returned her gaze to Ash.

"Good work," she complimented. "I'm putting you in charge of leading tonight's heist. After we take our cut for the gang, you'll get first pick of the crew's portion."

The mook's eyes widened. "Ma'am?"

"The Spiders need sharp and inventive minds, Ash." Momo proclaimed. She whirled around with a flourish, drawing in the entire audience to her words and majestic face like a siren commanding her thralls. "Let this be a lesson to all of you. Numbers are only an advantage if you bother to think about how to use them. Any trained huntsman will try to bottleneck you, separate you out and whittle you down one by one. You will never be able to match their strength in a fair fight, so don't fight fair. No matter how skilled a combatant, they can only block so many people at once. Do that, and we'll be ruling this city before Torchwick and his pets know what hit them!"

"Yes, ma'am!" the horde of mooks chorused, all of them snapped into their best attempt at a military salute. They were all painfully bad, but the fact that they tried was important.

"Miltia, Melanie, you two and Junior need to get the club set up for the night," Momo commanded. "If you need me or Tenko, we'll be below."

"Of course," the sisters muttered, averting their eyes from their mother's favorite. Once Momo snapped around and marched towards the back of the bar, they started shouting out orders to the goons, suddenly all high and mighty again.

Tenko snatched his bag off the counter and followed his sister. They undid a hidden door in the back of the kitchen and descended down into the dark basement of the club, Junior's real place of business. The information business could be run upstairs in the club proper, but the money laundering that brought in the big lien needed a more discreet headquarters.

Momo sent the man himself packing back up the stairs with a nod of her head. She set her quarterstaff against the wall and sagged back behind a table full of bill counter machines.

Tenko chuckled and plopped down in the seat opposite her. "Well, you got those suckers wrapped around your finger fast. Might be a new speed run record."

"It's not that hard. Put the fear of the gods in them, and then offer tangible promotion based off merit. Establish order and they'll do their best to thrive in it," Momo giggled, unwrapping a chocolate bar from her belt. "Something you'd know if you just didn't try to dust anything you didn't like."

"He hit you," Tenko replied.

"I hit him harder," Momo teased. "Besides, he was the _only _one who hit me. I wasn't expecting much, but my gods. No wonder Miltia and Melanie's skills have atrophied if this is the best they've had to spar with."

"Yeah, they got squeamish because of Little Miss, and look where all their running got them," Tenko mocked, brushing a lock of his pale blue hair aside. "Stuck in Vale with a weak protector."

Nothing worse than a weak protector who couldn't or wouldn't help. He had put everything he had into protecting his twin sister for as long as he could remember, since their days back on the streets in Anima. When the Spiders' boss had found out about Momo's semblance and tried to make her into his weapons/dust factory, he dusted his goons from the skull down. When the bastard had kept the thugs coming, he'd thrown their lot in with Little Miss Malachite, then an underboss, to usurp the gang entirely.

Little Miss was cruel, enough so that her own daughters had fled out of sheer terror, but she also recognized skill more than talent. Instead of alienating Tenko and Momo for the latter's semblance, she'd employed the pair, and they'd steadily risen through the ranks. He drained and slaughtered the competition while his sister studied to create rare materials. It took a lot out of her to make dust, there was a reason her quarterstaff only ever came into being with one shell in each end, but that hardly mattered when she ran the books better than anyone else on Remnant. Under their care, the Spiders had gone from being a sizable information ring to a criminal syndicate covering Anima, rivaled only by the Branwen Tribe and their protection racket.

And if they could start bringing in resources from Vale, they could crush even then. The hammer and the scalpel would carve up the kingdom like a roast pig.

Tenko pulled some papers out of his jacket and slid them across the table. "These are all the details on the stocks of the stores I scoped out."

"Good, good," Momo muttered, examining the information while munching on her chocolate. "Ash and his crew should bring in a good haul."

"But not even a fifth as good as that SDC shipment."

His sister groaned. "Tenko, I told you…"

"What's the problem?" he challenged. "We've put down plenty of White Fang back home. If Torchwick and his mutts show up, we can take them no problem."

"By which time, the police and huntsmen would arrive," Momo pointed out. "Besides, even if he wasn't there, we're not ready for something that big. "If we were back home, I'd say no problem, but here we've only got Junior's gang to work with. We don't have the men to transport the entire shipment, even if we didn't have to fight as well."

"Ugh. I hate resource gathering," Tenko moaned. "Can't we just take what we can carry and leave the rest behind?"

"It's not worth the risk. We need to keep recruiting and increasing our ranks. We can't do that if we lose half our men in a shootout."

"We're gonna lose half of them to paper cuts. You're training them as well as you can, but if I had to bet between them and those terrorists, my money's on the terrorists. You sure we can't just bribe the cops?"

Momo shook her head. "The ones that are dirty are already in Torchwick's pocket. Not that there's many of them, Ozpin being so close does a lot to discourage… corruption…"

Tenko leaned back in his chair, groaning to the ceiling. "So we can't do that… thing in chess where you turn a pawn into a queen? The other side has more pieces so we can't bring the hurt to the king?"

"No, we can't," Momo murmured. But her brow was furrowed in thought, and after a few moments, she grinned. "But life isn't like a chessboard. There are more than two sides."

"So it's like _Kingdoms of Remnant_, but not like _Kingdoms of Remnant: The Great War_?"

"Essentially. Just because we can't turn our enemies to our side doesn't mean we can't set them against each other," his sister declared. "We go in as soon as the shipment arrives, we grab everything we can carry, then we call the police and they jump on Torchwick when he comes for his heist. The dust goes to the stores it's supposed to—"

"—and we rob it from them in a bunch of smaller jobs! Sis, you are brilliant!" Tenko cheered. He pushed his bag over to her side of the table. "And on that note, happy birthday!"

Momo raised an eyebrow. "You're a few months early."

"I've got something else coming in for then," he said. "This is a pre-birthday present."

His sister shook her head fondly. She opened up the bag and tore off the book's wrapping paper. Her eyes widened.

"Is this…"

"_The Thief and the Butcher_, first edition," Tenko smirked. "And in a few months, we should have—ah!"

Momo leapt over the table and engulfed Tenko in a massive hug, both of them plummeting to the floor.

"Thank you, thank you, _thank you_!" she squealed. "You are the best brother ever, Tenko!"

That brought a smile to Tenko's face. He gently wrapped his arms around Momo, resting his face against her dark hair.

The world was harsh. The world was cruel. The kingdoms' society and the huntsmen who safeguarded it had abandoned him and the rest of the outskirts to the mercy of the Grimm and criminal syndicates. In his dreams, he sometimes heard the whispers of a great, shapeless darkness, calling out a name he didn't recognize, calling for him to rend everything to dust.

But he had her. And she had him. Neither of them were angels, but they made their way through the world together, a family that would never let each other down.

For Tenko Yaoyorozu Malachite, that was more than enough.

* * *

**The fun has just begun.**

**For the MHA characters, I will do an exact description of their semblances in the AN when they are first used in combat. Just so there isn't any confusion on how they work.**

**Some nice bits and conversation this chapter, Ruby, Weiss, and Izuku all being told to wait before deciding the world has ended, and Izuku connecting a bit more with his new Remnant friends. Meanwhile, Katsuki's memories are seeping through his mind, he knew Izuku the longest of Class 1-A after all, Yang's suspicions are momentarily allayed, and multiple people receive the gift of books.**

**Oh, and Momo and Shigaraki are siblings. Destruction and Creation, Chaos and Order, Hands and... some body part that Momo is associated with. There is a subtle clue in chapter one that hints towards why and how Shigaraki is on Remnant, though rest assured, it is ONLY him and Class 1-A who are there. No one else from the League of Villains came along for the ride.**

**Thank you for Reading! I hope you enjoy what comes next!**

**Go Forth and Conquer!**


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